Honours shared and pride intact on both sides. At the end of a fitting finale to the Guinness Interprovincial Championship, both sides were entitled to stand tall. And yet, although Munster couldn't manage back-to-back grand slams, it will probably be Leinster who feel they let this slip away.
Hammering away in the Munster 22, as they had been doing for the preceding half-hour, and leading 13-3, they allowed a turnover to be converted into a breakaway seven-pointer which galvanised Munster.
Even then they lead 16-10 going into the final quarter, but naively and curiously continued to play inside their own half. And, having been pegged back to 16-16 by Killian Keane's 80th-minute penalty, they saw Eddie Hekenui fail to win the game, albeit with a far more difficult penalty.
The force had been with Leinster for much of the match, with the home side taking their lead from the inspirational restart work of their magnificent lock Malcolm O'Kelly. The pack worked like trojans to set up a stream of quality ruck ball and the backs probed gamely. Brian O'Meara pulled the strings and provided a big work-rate, while Shane Horgan and then livewire Gordon D'Arcy always looked dangerous.
But they couldn't pull clear, thanks partially to Mick O'Driscoll and John Langford stealing their lineouts, and most of all to Munster's almost impenetrable defence, in which the backrow excelled. Typically, Anthony Foley then came up with a big play in the turning point of the second-half, while the introduction of Peter Stringer and Jason Holland at halfback was ultimately Declan Kidney's trump card in creating Munster's most potent move of the night.
It was clear from the outset that the game would struggle for a bit of continuity when referee Dave McHugh set the trend by penalising the attacking team at five rucks in the first seven minutes. After this stop-start beginning, it was no surprise that the opening points came after Hekenui and Jeremy Staunton exchanged penalties.
Hekenui then edged Leinster back in front after Munster's ruckers were penalised, harshly it seemed, presumably for coming in the wrong side.
But there could be few quibbles with McHugh's decision to sin-bin John O'Neill for a late, high tackle on Girvan Dempsey. As it transpired, O'Neill returned after eight minutes, but ironically Leinster made the most of their numerical advantage by attacking that flank with a similar move when they opted for a scrum on the Munster 22 rather than a penalty. As with many of their scores recently, Shane Horgan's distribution was the key, and Dempsey's temporary replacement, Nathan Turner, sped onto his cut-out pass to put D'Arcy over with a long, flat pass. Hekenui converted.
Leinster resumed where they left off, but a turnover in midfield between Hekenui and Eric Miller saw Munster shift the ball along their 22 for John O'Neill to kick upfield. D'Arcy couldn't control the wickedly bouncing ball, the ever-alert Foley snaffled the ball and offloaded for Langford to score. Staunton got the conversion.
Game on, all the more so when Peter Clohessy and Trevor Brennan joined the fray. Leinster retaliated. An excellent lineout drive from deep, a snipe from O'Meara who offloaded in the tackle for the ubiquitous O'Kelly, and quick hands released D'Arcy for a weaving, probing infield run. A couple of recycles later, Munster were offside and Hekenui made it 16-10.
But the outhalf consistently failed to clear Dominic Crotty with his diagonal kicks, while Nathan Turner, who made two stunning try-saving tackles, and Hickie refused to kick long, even after Keane had landed a penalty from half-way.
When Hekenui finally found touch inside half-way, Munster brilliantly ran it back with Stringer and Holland putting John Kelly away in the prelude to Leinster drifting offside for Keane to level matters. A fine finale in every sense.
Scoring sequence: 15 mins: Hekenui pen 3-0; 20: Staunton pen 3-3; 23: Hekenui pen 6-3; 32: D'Arcy try, Hekenui con 13-3; (half-time 13-3). 48: Langford try, Staunton try 13-10; 61: Hekenui pen 16-10; 67: Keane pen 16-13; 80: Keane pen 16-16.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, P McKenna, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; E Hekenui, B O'Meara; E Byrne, S Byrne, G Halpin, R Casey, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, L Toland. Replacements: S Keogh, N Turner for Dempsey (27-33 mins and 58 mins), L Cullen for Casey (53 mins), P Smyth for S Byrne (58 mins), T Brennan for Miller (63 mins).
MUNSTER: D Crotty; J O'Neill, J Kelly, K Keane, A Horgan; J Staunton, T Tierney; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, M O'Driscoll, J Langford, A Quinlan, A Foley, D Wallace. Replacements: P Clohessy for Horan (61 mins), D O'Callaghan for O'Driscoll (61 mins), J Blaney for Sheahan (68 mins), P Stringer for Tierney (73 mins), J Holland for Crotty (73 mins). Sin-binned: J O'Neill (26-34 mins).
Referee: D McHugh (IRFU).
