Tonight Bohemians put in a really hard fought display beating new boys Sporting Fingal by just a single goal to nil, Bohemians were handed a massive lifeline late on when referee Derek Tomney proved the FAI have no good referees and pointed to the spot after it appeared Anto Murphy was taken off the ball in the box, this was not the case. Killian Brennan stood up and put it in the net and gave the champions a nervy 3 points in front of a capacity crowd in Dalymount Park.

After the game Sportspeak’s chief soccer hack Daniel “Pitchside” Pitcher caught up with Sporting Fingal manager Liam Buckley, Goal scorer Killian Brennan and Bohs manager Pat Fenlon.

Champions Bohemians and new Premier side Sporting Fingal provided the main event of tonight’s Airtricity League of Ireland opener at Dalymount Park even though the went out 10 minutes before everyone else. Management at Bohs would have been delighted to see the whole Jodi Stand packed to the brim and half of the Des Kelly stand full too.

Not even a minute into this massive game and there was a moment of madness when the knee of Mark Quigley introducing itself to the head of Fingals Lorcan Fitzgerald, thankfully all was well with him and the game went on. Bohs had the first opportunity and really should have been on the board in the opening 10 minutes when Quigley provided a lovely ball for Killian Brennan who found nothing but air with his boot and there was no doubt that the keeper would have been beaten had Brennan connected with the ball. Fingal later had a moment of their own in front of goal minutes later when a class shot from Fingal’s leading scorer Conan Byrne was fingertiped over the bar by Bohs new net stopper Barry Murphy and out for a corner, but noting came from that, so on opening night in the opening half plenty of entertainment to keep the RTE camera men awake and alive.

As time went on in the first half the new boys on the block were piling the pressure on the champions and a massive mistake from Glenn Cronin with a dangerous foul almost set it up for Fingal, Conan Byrne had a good curl and it was heading goalbound but Conor Powel’s good defensive skills put it away for a corner which was cleared by Bohs captain Owen Heary. Bohs had 1 or 2 more chances as well to their credit, a nicely delivered corner on the 34th minute reached Paddy Madden but his shot denied by Fingal’s Ger O’Brien. As the first half wound up it was just a case of cat and mouse chasing and the half finished scoreless.

The second half started with a little more consistency from Sporting Fingal and only seconds had gone in the half and Fingal should have been ahead when Gary O’Neil not only caught Bohs on the hop but the rest of his team mates too, a shot out of nowhere went centimetres wide but had Barry Murphy well beaten as he dove across the wrong way. That moment of madness was followed my 24 minutes of pure boring football and suddenly didn’t seem like a massive game and those camera men looked out for the night, this surely wasn’t champions football from Bohs which certainly did not make Pat Fenlon look like a happy man, on the other side of the coin Liam Buckley looked really impressed at his sides first performance in the Premier Division.

There were a few stupid tackles from both teams but the most costly came on 75 minutes when Keith Quinn pulled down Anto Murphy in the area and referee Derek Tomney was quick to point to the spot. Killian Brennan stood up and took a cool penalty to give Bohemians the first goal of their season which left the full Jodi Stand buzzing. It just wouldn’t be a League of Ireland match without totally feckless decisions from the FAI’s “bright spark” referees this proved when Kenny Browne brought down Conor Powel with a rather rough challenge. Ref Tomney saw it the other way and not only awarded Fingal a free kick but booked Coner Powel, leaving the Bohs fans rightfully angered and rather confused. After 4 minutes of added time the ref finally blew the final whistle and Bohemians took all three points in their first game of the season leaving fans singing “Are you watching Rovers scum”.

Final Score Bohemians 1 Sporting Fingal 0

Bohemians: B.Murphy(GK), O.Heary(C), C.Powel, G.Cronin, S.Gray, B.Shelly, A.Murphy, P.Keegan, P.Madden, M.Quigley, K.Brennan

SUBS; R.Cretaro, M.Rossiter, R.Higgins, G.McGlynn, C.O’Connor(GK)

Sporting Fingal: B.Clarke(GK), G.OBrien, L.Fitzgerald, S.Williams, S.Mahar(C), K.Browne, C.Byrne, R.Finn,G.O Neil, K.Quinn, S.Mc Faul

SUBS; S.Paisley, C.James, G.Crowe, D.Quigley, A. Kirby

Robinho marked his return to England with a stunning goal as Brazil defeated Republic of Ireland, but the World Cup 2010 favourites did little to strike fear into the watching Fabio Capello at the Emirates.

Manchester City forward Robinho, currently on loan at Santos after failing to impress at Eastlands this season, created Brazil’s first and scored their second in a hard-fought victory against the Irish. Despite his goal, Robinho also highlighted his frailties by spurning a series of chances. And Capello, whose England team cannot face Brazil until the semi-final stages in South Africa, will have left the Emirates believing that the South Americans are anything but invincible. For all the kudos that comes with facing the five-time World Cup winners, Ireland would much rather be playing the Brazilians in Nelspruit in June than in north London in February.

But the left arm of Thierry Henry has ensured that the Irish will not be in South Africa this summer, so this glamour fixture is pretty much as good as it is going to get for Giovanni Trapattoni’s team. A Dublin friendly against Algeria in May will give Ireland a first-hand look at England’s Group C opponents, but it will be no substitute for the real thing. The priority now for Trapattoni is to prepare his squad for the Euro 2012 qualification campaign, when Ireland will have to overcome Russia and Slovakia if they are to play in their first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup. The fact that veterans of that World Cup campaign, such as Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane, Robbie Keane and Damien Duff, started this fixture emphasised that the Italian will be relying on the same old faces in the Euro qualifiers.

But they showed in the early stages against the Brazilians that they retain the ability to trouble more celebrated opponents. Ireland were certainly not overawed by the World Cup favourites, with Keane and Paul McShane testing goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

Brazil, in contrast, flattered to deceive, but in Robinho and Adriano they possess perhaps two of the most over-rated forwards in world football. Little wonder that Dunga’s team continues to rely heavily on Kaka. Robinho, now attempted to resurrect his career in Brazil with Santos after fading from the scene at Manchester City, can at least claim an assist on Brazil’s opening goal, however. Having sprung the offside trap to latch onto Maicon’s 44th minute pass, the £32.5m forward crossed into the penalty area, only to see Ireland midfielder Keith Andrews divert the ball into his own net with his attempted clearance. Despite handing them the lead, Brazil showed little charity to Andrews.

Early in the second-half, the usually placid Kaka became embroiled in a shoving match with the Blackburn midfielder, who he perceived to be operating rough-house tactics to stem his creative flow. Andrews was doing nothing of the sort. His tenacity was merely frustrating Real Madrid’s £56m signing, who was not having one of his better nights. Maybe Ireland were taking out their lingering World Cup frustrations on Brazil. They certainly did enough to suggest that they would have merited a place in South Africa and, on this evidence, the leading nations will be relieved that they will not have to overcome the obdurate Irish this summer.

As the missed chances began to stack up, with Kaka, Robinho and Adriano all guilty of spurning opportunities, Ireland appeared destined to escape with a one-goal defeat. But Brazil took advantage of tiring Irish legs in the closing, with Robinho rounding off a slick three-man move with Kaka and Grafite to double their lead on 76 minutes.

Leinster came into tonight’s clash at the RDS with certain players like Jonathan Sexton and Eoin Reddan hoping to impress the watching Declan Kidney as he prepares to name his team to face England next weekend in the Six Nations.

The game was a good up tempo start but very much like Munster last night claimed some injuries in the opening 10 minutes, first CJ Van der Linde went off on a blood injury but then only minutes later Sean O’Brien was taken off with what looked like a bad shoulder injury.

Leinster were on the board with 15 minutes gone from the boot of Jonathan Sexton after the Scarlet’s Dominic Day was caught holding onto the ball in the ruck. Leinster had discipline problems of their own after the referee awarded 5 penalties to the Scarlets, they finally decided to take a shot at goal to level the match. Leinster’s increasingly sloppy defending left a massive hole open on the left hand side for the Scarlets to go through and get their try but it was not converted so after 20 minutes the Scarlets had an 8-3 lead. With 24 minutes gone Leinster were in real trouble but were lucky in the fact that Scarlets had brought a dodgy number 10 who just wasn’t making his kicks.

After the half hour mark with some excellent passing and play Leinster were ahead after  a great try from Leinster’s player of the month Isa Nacewa which was converted by Sexton, then two minutes later the man who wants to take Ronan O’Gara’s 10 jersey for the English game slotted over for a further 3 points to take the Heineken cup champions to a 13-8 lead. The last play of the first half was a penalty for Scarlets which Priestland took well to reduce Leinster’s lead to 2 at 13-11.

The second half saw a brief moment of great play from the Scarlets and almost straight away they had the lead, that dodgy number 10, Priestland converted for 3 to give them a lead of 14-13. A near minute later Johnny had put Leinster back  ahead with a nicely taken penalty. Leinster’s next chance at a try was from a lovely break from Shane Horgan but he chipped it on for Dempsey who couldn’t get to it but the Scarlets were punished for holding onto the ball and Johnny was there again, another great taken penalty right through the middle of the posts to give the blues a 19-14 lead.

Scarlets had another opportunity at a try and were so close Andy Fenby was inches away from the line and the Scarlets went all the way across the pick with the pick and go but Leinster’s defence finally caught up on them and managed to turn the ball over and clear their line. Shane Horgan made a fabulous break on 67 minutes and almost was in but the Scarlets were penalised for going off their feet and it seemed like the team wanted Sexton to get as many points as he could from the game and he slotted over for another 3 and with less than 10 minutes to go Leinster had a 22-14 lead and looked like going back top of the Magners league table.

Scarlets night went from bad to worse on 73 minutes, Rob McCusker had a try with nobody covering him, just as he was crossing the line, the flute knocked it on and Leinster had another chance to clear their lines. Just as Sexton was named man of the match he went over for a try to add to his great display but his conversion was just wide, great overall performance that surely must have him on the flight to London.

Final Score Leinster 27 Scarlets 14.

SCARLETS:

15. Dan Newton 14.Daniel Evans 13. Regan King 12.Jon Davies 11 Andy Fenby 10. Rhys Priestland 9 Martin Roberts 1 Thomas Lestyn 2 Ken Owens 3 Deacon Manu 4 Dominic Day 5 Damien Welch 6 Rob Mc Cusker 7 Johnathon Edwards 8 David Lyons(C)

LEINSTER:

15: Girvan Dempsey 14: Shane Horgan 13: Fergus McFadden 12: Shaun Berne 11: Isa Nacewa 10: Jonathan Sexton 9: Eoin Reddan1: Stan Wright 2: Bernard Jackman 3: CJ van der Linde 4: Devin Toner 5: Malcolm O’Kelly 6: Kevin McLaughlin 7: Shane Jennings CAPTAIN 8: Sean O’Brien

REPLACEMENTS FROM: John Fogarty, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Trevor Hogan, Stephen Keogh, Simon Keogh, Paul O’Donohoe, Eoin O’Malley, Andrew Conway

REFEREE: Andy Macpherson (SRU), ASSISTANT REFEREES: Colin Stanley (IRFU), Jonathan Peake (IRFU), 4th OFFICIAL: Ed Kenny (ARLB), 5th OFFICIAL: Gordon Murray (ARLB), TMO: Tony Redmond (IRFU)

Tonight Shelbourne started preparing for their season in the first division of the League of Ireland with a pre season friendly with reigning premier champions Bohemians at Tolka Park.

Bohemians started the game reminding everyone who the champions are and almost had the lead after four minutes. A corner from Paul Keegan found the head of Paddy Madden and should have gone in the net, Shels keeper Damien Deleney almost threw the ball into the back of the net but just about kept it out.

There is a reason they call it a friendly but Bohemians new signing Rafeal Cretaro didn’t take that too seriously when he put in a desperate tackle on Paul Shiels but referee Neil Doyle saw it the opposite way and awarded the free to Boh’s, but nothing was made of that set piece.

25 Minutes in Bohs had a wonderful chance, it looked like Glen Cronin would easily slot the ball past Dean Delaney, but he made a remarkable save and Marc Hughes was able to keep it in play before it went out for the corner. The half ended with some very boring football from both sides 0-0

The second half started with more Shelbourne territory and almost took the lead straight away Ian Ryan struck the ball brilliantly and just about saved by Chris O Connor in the Bohemians goal, went out for a corner but Bohemians pressure forced a free out. The patience that Fenlon’s men had in the first half paid off in the 53rd minute, from 30 yards Paddy Madden scored a wonderful goal to put the champions ahead after some horrible defending form Shels.

One Goal soon turned to two on 66 minutes Jason McGuinness had a great shot from just outside the box and into the back of the net, desperate goal keeping from Damien Delaney. From there on Shelbourne just fell apart in all areas barely able to keep the ball for a couple of seconds and Boh’s knew they had the win and they just had to keep the ball away from the home side.

Final Score: Shelbourne 0-2 Bohemians

SHELBOURNE: D.Delaney, S Quigley, S Byrne, I Ryan, G Whelan, P Shiels, D Mc Gill, D Cassidy, D Corcoran, M Hughes, E, Foley; SUBS: R Clarke, P Gorman, C O’Brien, R Scully, A Mc Garry, A Haran, K Doherty, S Williams

BOHEMIANS: C O Connor, O Heary, M Rossitor, P Keegan, B Shelly, S Grey, M Quigley,G Cronin, P Madden, R Cretaro, K Brennan; SUBS B Murphy, C Powel, A Murphy, R Mc Evoy, J Byrne, J Mc Guinness, K Oman

Ireland’s ambition of defending the Grand Slam met a grim and brutal end as France coasted to an agonisingly-familiar victory amid sub-zero temperatures in Paris. All week the Irish had stressed the importance of preventing the Six Nations favourites from establishing an unassailable lead, which they managed to triumphant effect in 2006 and 2008.

But the same scenario unfolded yet again with an irresistible France surging 17-3 ahead by half-time with tries from William Servat and Yannick Jauzion. Ten of those points arrived while prop Cian Healy was in the sin-bin, guilty of an early tackle on Francois Trinh-Duc, with the kicking of Morgan Parra also keeping the scoreboard active.

Parra stoked up the sides’ rivalry yesterday by accusing Ireland of being perennial cheats and voicing his lack of admiration for the champions, and today he stuck the boot in on the pitch with a near-flawless display headlined by 15 points. France, expertly marshalled by fly-half Trinh-Duc, were magnificent as they stunned the shellshocked Irish with a mixture of power and ingenuity.

A try from Clement Poitrenaud and Parra’s kicking added to the post-interval carnage to underline the gulf in class and the Les Bleus’ title credentials. Victory will taste all the sweeter knowing that Ireland arrived in Paris genuinely believing they could end their decade-long wait for success at the Stade de France. Instead, Brian O’Driscoll’s side utterly failed the first significant examination of their title defence to end their 12-match unbeaten run dating back to November 2008.

Given France’s propensity for imploding, the race for the Six Nations is not over yet but Ireland were horribly exposed this afternoon and this defeat was far more painful than 2006 or 2008. Both of those matches witnessed courageous fightbacks that almost reeled in the French, but apart from David Wallace’s 65th-minute try they did not have the ability or will to respond today.

They trudged off shellshocked at the final whistle, yet a promising opening suggested they might finally be ready to improve their record of just one win in Paris in 28 years. Powerful early runs from Stephen Ferris, included after missing out against Italy because of a knee injury, and Jamie Heaslip swept them five metres short of the line.

France’s defence reacted sharply, however, with Jauzion bottling up O’Driscoll before the attack became lateral and fizzled out. Gordon D’Arcy was denied a try by the bounce of the ball after he charged into space and chipped ahead with winger Vincent Clerc, so often Ireland’s try-scoring nemesis, coming to the rescue.

Jerry Flannery was lucky to stay on the pitch after referee Wayne Barnes failed to punish him for a trip on winger Alexis Palisson. The pendulum swung as Imanol Harinordoquy used his bulk to make ground, resulting in a yellow card for Healy as he held back the supporting Trinh-Duc.

Parra landed the penalty before a lineout catch and drive secured France 10 yards with the pressure then cranked up by four successive five-metre scrums. Ireland, a man down and buckling ominously, conceded on two of them before France went wide, drawing defenders into a maul and then exploiting a large gap in front of the posts by sending Servat over.

Parra converted but a penalty from Ronan O’Gara reduced the deficit to 10-3 – until France produced their second try the on the half-hour mark. Mathieu Bastareaud bulldozed his way through midfield and was stopped 10 metres short, but the ball found its way to Jauzion who slipped over untroubled.

The conversion was kicked by Parra and Ireland’s problems mounted with the departure of injured full-back Rob Kearney. Trailing 17-3, O’Gara declined two shots at goal in a pulsating end to the first half that saw France’s whitewash come under sustained attack from short-range drives.

The TMO declined to give Clerc, who has crossed seven times in five matches against Ireland, a try five minutes after the restart but the champions continued to struggle. Spending increasing amounts of time deep in their own half, they saw the impressive Trinh-Duc race inches short before Keith Earls put his side under pressure when he spilt a quickly-taken mark – summing up Ireland’s afternoon.

Bastareaud showed strength to set up France’s third try, slipping the scoring pass to Poitrenaud with Parra converting before the Clermont scrum-half added an audacious drop-goal. Ireland replied with a try by David Wallace in the 65th minute, set up initially by Ferris with O’Driscoll producing the decisive pass and O’Gara converting. But there was no fightback this time as substitute Frederic Michalak landed a drop goal to land the final blow.

Ireland head coach Declan Kidney and captain Brian O’Driscoll were in good humour as Ireland’s Six Nations campaign got off to a winning start with victory over Italy at Croke Park.

Kidney was happy with the work-rate of his side and in particular the players who were returning from injury.

He said, “I’d like to pay credit to how hard some of the injured guys have been working to get themselves right.

“I think Jerry (Flannery) was motoring well – even after 55 minutes, because of the nature of the injury there was no point in putting him in a place where the muscle was going to fatigue and cramp up.

“Also Rory (Best) more than deserved his chance, because he has done extraordinarily well to get to where he is at. It’s handy to have the two of them.”

Skipper O’Driscoll felt the game was an important opportunity for his side to get some valuable game-time.

“I think it was a good work-out. It’s not easy to just immediately click having only been together for two weeks and not play together since November,” he said.

“By the time we played against South Africa we had been together four weeks. You have to realise that you can’t just turn it on and turn it off – you have to build those things.”

Sportspeak were in Croke Park to get the views of Kidney and O’Driscoll after the game.
 

This afternoon at the Recreational Ground Ulster claimed an historic 28 – 10 victory over Bath, narrowly missing out on Heineken Cup quarter-final qualification but ensuring further European action this season in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

At kick-off today, progression to the Heineken Cup quarter-final stage was still a mathematical possibility, with Ulster needing a victory and four-try bonus point at the Rec, coupled with a heavy defeat for Stade Francais at Edinburgh, in order to finish top of the group and win an automatic place in the last eight.

O’Connor was quickly involved, called upon on six minutes to open scoring with a well-executed penalty. Bath had an immediate chance to equalise after Ulster had been penalised for not releasing the man in the tackle, but out-half Nicky Little’s kick rebounded back off the posts and into Ed O’Donoghue’s grateful clutches.

Ulster kept the pressure on, however, and, after a fruitless drop-goal attempt from O’Connor on 14 minutes, quickly forced their way back into Bath territory. They were soon rewarded for their persistence with the award of a second penalty, with back-row James Salvi sanctioned for coming in from the side.

O’Connor effortlessly put his side six points clear, but no sooner had play restarted than Bath finally flexed their muscles, with Shontayne Hape doing the groundwork to allow Matt Banahan to land the try. This time Little’s kick was true, the conversion putting the Englishmen ahead at Bath 7 Ulster 6 on the 25-minute mark.

With Bath now leading on the scoresheet, control of the game swung in their favour for the next 10 minutes. However, Ulster were able to fend off any advances and crafted themselves a good scoring opportunity when O’Connor elected to kick for touch from a 35th minute penalty.

Five metres from the Bath try-line, Ulster duly won the line-out and, in the resulting melee as the ball went to ground, play was stopped for a deliberate stamp by Danny Grewcock on a prostrate Stephen Ferris. The English lock saw a straight red for the offence, and O’Connor kept up his 100% kicking record with the subsequent penalty to edge Ulster back into the lead.

The clock ran down to half-time with Ulster containing play in the middle of the park, and as the teams ran off for the break, news filtered through that the other Group 4 match, unfolding simultaneously at Murrayfield, hung in the balance at Edinburgh 6 Stade Francais 7 at the half-way stage.

The second half opened with a moment of sheer brilliance from Andrew Trimble. Picking up on half-way, the Ireland winger ripped through the Bath defence with electrifying pace, leaving numerous Englishmen in his wake and going over for a superb score. O’Connor’s conversion lost its way in the air, but Ulster were a converted try ahead at Bath 7 Ulster 14 on 45 minutes.

Four minutes later, the four-try bonus point began to look a distinct possibility when Simon Danielli surged through and offloaded to Darren Cave, who stepped on the gas and landed the second score. This time O’Connor converted and stretched the lead to 14 points at Bath 7 Ulster 21.

Little then hit over a 54th-minute penalty to reduce the gap to Bath 10 Ulster 21, and Bath, after an infringement from Trimble on 57 minutes, eschewed a further three points by opting for a line-out five metres from the Ulster line. The danger was averted with an eventual knock-on, but the Englishmen continued to apply pressure in the Ulster half, when circumstances were dictating that the visitors needed to be in control of the ball at the other end of the park.

With Edinburgh now leading 9 – 7 as the two games entered their final quarter, Ulster spent the next 10 minutes soaking up Bath pressure until Danielli snatched possession and had a great chance to set up Jamie Smith for a try-scoring opportunity. Unfortunately the Scot got crowded out before he could supply Smith, and the chance went begging.

Ulster had managed to force their way back into the opposing half, though, and Paddy Wallace brought the bonus point to within touching distance, showing quick feet to go over on 78 minutes after a scrum on the Bath 22. The speedy O’Connor conversion put the result beyond any doubt at Bath 10 Ulster 28, but time soon ran out and, with Stade eventually going down in Edinburgh by the narrowest of margins, 9 – 7, the Frenchmen’s losing bonus point secured them top spot on 18 points.

Ulster finished in second place with 17 points, qualification for the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals guaranteed, and, notably, their first victory on English soil in 11 years.
Full-Time Score Bath 10 Ulster 28

Jonathan Sexton’s late drop-goal saw European champions Leinster draw  with London Irish and knock the English club out of the Heineken Cup. Chris Malone had minutes earlier sent over a dramatic penalty to give Irish an 11-8 lead and the Exiles also missed two late drop-goal attempts. Isa Nacewa’s try gave Leinster an 8-3 lead after penalties from Sexton and Malone, whose own try tied the score.

The result now means that Northampton now qualify instead of London Irish. It was a dramatic ending to what had been an otherwise error-strewn game. Sexton sent over an early penalty after Irish had been penalised from scrum infringement but Malone wasted an opportunity to level, missing from virtually in front of the posts.

Leinster’s fly-half was having an equally erratic day hitting the post with a penalty on the half hour before Irish eventually levelled through Malone, with the European Champions penalised for not retreating. Gordon D’arcy created and finished a fine move for Leinster but his try was disallowed for an earlier forward pass.

From the resulting scrum, which Leinster won against the head, the visitors drove to the London Irish line and eventually passed out to Nacewa on the wing to dive over unchallenged.  The conversion was missed but after Leinster’s Cian Healy was sent to the bin for punching Malone was again wide with a penalty.
But he made up for that miss with a try on 65 minutes, stepping inside the Leinster line to bundle over and level the score. Malone however missed with the conversion and although he later sent over a penalty, Sexton responded almost immediately with a long-range drop goal to level the game at 11-11. Irish later missed two drop goals as Leinster held out to draw the game and advance through to the quarter-final stages.

Munster just about survived an intense clash with Northampton at Thomond Park to book a 12th successive quarter-final appearance and leave the Saints worrying about their Heineken Cup survival. Four Ronan O’Gara penalties guided Munster to top spot in Pool One and a home quarter-final, but Northampton could still progress with them. Their hopes of qualifying  lie in wait on what happens tomorrow in particular the clash of Leinster and London Irish at Twickenham. Munster though, have no need to take an interest in the mathematics.

Despite a second-half sin bin for their captain Paul O’Connell, and being torn apart by a dominant Northampton scrum, fly-half O’Gara’s accuracy proved crucial. He totalled the combined goalkicking efforts of Saints marksmen Bruce Reihana, Shane Geraghty and Stephen Myler, who each landed one penalty.

Northampton did have their moments, yet try-hungry backs like Chris Ashton and Ben Foden were largely stopped at source, engulfed by Munster’s red defensive blanket. Munster’s man-of-the-match Alan Quinlan tackled himself to a standstill, and such was the home side’s immense collective effort that Northampton could find no way through even when O’Connell was off the pitch.

The initial exchanges were nervous and hurried from both teams, although Munster edged ahead through an O’Gara penalty inside three minutes.

Northampton’s appetite was also evident at scrum-time, where Murray made life distinctly uncomfortable for Munster loosehead Wiaan du Preez, and Saints drew level nine minutes before half-time. Reihana rifled over a 48-metre penalty that rewarded Saints’ set-piece efforts, but the visitors were then pinned inside their own 22 with half-time looming.

A second O’Gara penalty restored Munster’s lead, yet there remained plenty of hope for Northampton that they could emulate Leicester’s achievement of three years ago and win a Heineken tie in Limerick.

Reihana missed a long-range penalty chance to tie the score four minutes after the restart, but Saints had another opportunity five minutes later, this time wasted by Geraghty. He managed to find his range after 53 minutes, but Munster quickly regained a three-point advantage when O’Gara completed a penalty hat-trick.

And Munster seemed to have panicked under pressure, with O’Connell punished by French referee Romain Poite for hands in the ruck as Northampton attempted to turn the scrummaging screw. A sin-binned O’Connell could only look on amid escalating Saints pressure, yet Munster somehow kept their shape – even with their New Zealand wing Doug Howlett pressed into emergency back-row scrum duty.

O’Gara and Myler then exchanged penalties during the final 10 minutes, but Munster’s superior experience in high-octane European encounters saw them through as the mist descended on Thomond Park.