Ronan O’Gara kicked four penalties as Munster secured a losing bonus point in a 13-12 defeat to the Cardiff Blues, which was good enough to seal fourth place for the defending Magners League champions.
Wales and Lions centre Jamie Roberts scored the only try as the Blues extended their winning streak in all competitions to seven matches, a new record for the Welsh region.
But it was a bittersweet victory for Dai Young’s side who have finished fifth in the final Magners League table, just a point behind semi-finalists Munster.
Stand-in captain Ronan O’Gara converted four first half penalties, including three in an eleven-minute spell leading up to half-time, as Munster took a 12-10 lead into the break.
Cardiff full-back Ben Blair opened the scoring on the quarter hour mark with third attempt on goal, with Roberts muscling his way over for a converted 25th minute try.
The second half was a dour affair, with Munster having to cope with the early sin-binning of prop Marcus Horan and a missed O’Gara penalty.
The deadlock was broken in the 79th minute when young winger Leigh Halfpenny stepped up to knock a long range penalty through the posts and give his side the four points, but not the semi-final spot they were battling for.
With so much riding on this game – Cardiff, Munster and Edinburgh were all chasing the fourth and final play-off place – early nerves were understandable. Passes were fumbled and wrong options taken, and Blair was off target with penalty efforts after 6 and 8 minutes.
Munster flanker Nick Williams had to be bundled into touch by Blair as the visitors enjoyed an early visit to the Blues’ 22, and the departing Xavier Rush, playing in his final home game for Cardiff, covered 30 metres on a fine break.
Rush’s run preceded Blair’s first shot at the posts but the latter opened his scoring account in the 15th minute when he punished Munster for a ruck offence.
O’Gara quickly replied for the visitors, after an offside decision, and he caught Halfpenny out with a raking kick which led to a five-metre scrum. Number 8 David Wallace attacked off the set piece, only for Martyn Williams to thwart him just metres out.
Cardiff got back on the front foot, with Ceri Sweeney and the home forwards making good yardage. A Sweeney half-break and some intelligent play from centre Casey Laulala created the space for Roberts to power through and touch down under pressure from three Munster players.
Blair tagged on the conversion from wide out, but O’Gara showed his kicking class by collecting a crucial nine points over the remainder of the first half.
O’Gara’s influence on the game shown through as he continually pushed the Blues back with some pinpoint touchfinders and well-placed returns.
Winger Tom Gleeson was perhaps fortunate to avoid further sanction for tackling Blair while he was in the air, but Munster lost a player to the sin-bin in the 52nd minute when Horan was singled out for slapping the ball out of scrum half Darren Allinson’s hands at a ruck.
The Amlin Challenge Cup finalists looked the more likely to score a try, with Ma’ama Molitika bursting forward and Sweeney also making good ground.
But Munster were able to keep their line intact and with the Blues frustrated by some lineout problems and an inability to crack the red defensive wall, the Irish side engineered some try-scoring chances.
Gleeson was close to scoring as O’Gara hung up an inviting kick, and the latter looked to have sent Springbok centre Jean de Villiers through for a try, only to be called back for a forward pass.
It was a controversial decision by the match officials, and showed just how well O’Gara and de Villiers can click with ball in hand.
It was tight and tense with mistakes at both ends of the pitch, but the 12,602 spectators present were gripped. Cardiff were next to press through Roberts, and Munster replacement James Coughlan had to be sharp to halt an attack involving Williams and Dafydd Hewitt.
Despite the best efforts of key men like Laulala, the Ulster-bound Rush and try scorer Roberts, the Blues’ search for a second try was an ultimately fruitless one.
Replacement Paul Warwick missed a drop goal attempt for Munster, and it was left to Halfpenny to decide the game, thumping a huge kick over to give the home side the lead for the third and final time.
Despite the narrow defeat, Munster had shown enough character to suggest that they could yet successfully defend their league title.
It was a gutsy performance from Tony McGahan’s men, coming just a week after their deflating loss to Biarritz Olympique and with players of the calibre of skipper Paul O’Connell, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Doug Howlett, Ian Dowling and Denis Leamy absent from the starting line-up.
It is knockout rugby from now onwards and Munster will certainly not give up the trophy without a fight. Roll on the RDS.
Looking forward to locking horns with Leinster in next Saturday’s semi-final, Munster coach McGahan said: “It’s always a tight clash between Munster and Leinster – they won by a point the last time we played and we are eager to go up there and get the result that means we can continue in this competition.
“Leinster have been the most consistent side this season, finishing on top, but we are defending a trophy. It was always our goal to get into the last four and now we have to go on from here.
“It comes down to one-off matches from here on in and both Leinster and ourselves will want to ensure we reach the final two weeks later.
“We are in a difficult place at this time with injuries. We lost three or four players going into this game (against Cardiff), but we hope to have a few players back for what promises to be a great game in Dublin.”
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