Munster down `but not out'

Anthony Foley leaned against the wall outside the room that housed the press conferences. He recalled standing in the same spot earlier this season, trying to reconcile Ireland's thrashing by England in the Six Nations Championship. Once again Twickenham would harbour ill tidings.

"This time we gave it a good shot. Everyone inside there (the dressingroom) is down but we're not out. There's life after this. The last time I stood here, to be honest with you, I couldn't see where we were going. At least we know where we're going. It's hugely disappointing but we'll bounce back and hopefully give it the best shot again."

Foley spoke of the devastating effect that fellow Shannon man and Munster captain Mick Galwey's sin binning had on the team. "It was the first time that I started to have doubts about us winning. Foley was staggered by referee Joel Dume's decision. "I couldn't believe he even gave 10 yards. I thought we were getting a scrum under the posts.

"At that stage I thought, where are we going to get a score from? At that moment I couldn't see us getting a score but we held on and when Mick came back on I thought we would win it. I thought we'd get our score. It turned out that we missed out by a couple of inches."

His first thoughts on hearing the final whistle illustrate the mental attitude and self belief that courses through the team. "I couldn't believe it. I never thought we'd lose. It wasn't a question of under-estimating them but I thought the way everything was going for us that we'd come out good at the end of the day. The team spirit and the attitude we have, we'd win this one.

"We'd been in tight situations, Saracens twice, and come out good. In fairness their discipline was top notch. They didn't give us an easy penalty and you have got to take off your hat to them, they're a super team. They did a good job in slowing the game down to their pace.

"They are a very good side. We were down to 14 men for a while and for them not to cross our line shows the determination in the side. In the last few minutes I thought surely we're going to win. Second best team in Europe rather than the best. We have to live with it.

"A point. You nearly come off the field wishing you were beaten by 20/25 points rather than one, it's just gut wrenching. I suppose when I get up tomorrow morning I won't want to get out of bed. It's like someone stole your favourite toy or something like that. It's hard to explain. We built ourselves up for it and more or less left it behind us."

What about the wind? "You'd look at the flags on top of the stand and they were going one way while the wind at pitch level was coming from a different direction. It must have been impossible for a place-kicker out there. Their fella missed a couple as well. He normally doesn't miss any."

And so to the try scorer, David Wallace, who embellished a superb season on a personal level with the game's only try. His description of the try. "Woody (Keith Wood) made a great break down the left hand side, we won quick ball and Ronan (O'Gara) and Dominic Crotty got the ball to me. I didn't know that Anthony (Horgan) was outside me.

"I'd say that if it was a different guy you might hear him. If I didn't see him I certainly wasn't going to hear him. Bateman was coming across and I slowed down so as not to give him a side on tackle. I was just glad to make it. I suppose it was pure elation when I realised I'd scored. I tried to calm myself down, I didn't want to think about it for the rest of the game."