RUGBY: Yet again there was no shame in this latest near miss, yet nothing hurts quite like another Munster Heineken European Cup defeat. For the fifth year running they had made it to the semi-finals and this was, in many ways, the day of all days, but until such time as they reach the mountain top there will be no glory in defeat.

The bare facts of Wasps' victory by 37-32 and five tries to two amid a riotous, throbbing sea of red in a 48,000-capacity Lansdowne Road - Roy Keane and John O'Shea among them - hardly tell the half of it. A cracking game fairly crackled from start to finish. "Irish by Birth, Munster by the Grace of God," ran one banner and the dilapidated old ground shook to its foundations from well before the off as the Red Army did their damnedest to drive on their team to a Twickenham final on May 23rd. They nearly did it too.

Briefly, tantalisingly, for a spell after the hour mark, Munster had played themselves into a winning position against an apparently superior London force to lead 32-22, but they couldn't close the deal. Missed touch kicks, missed tackles and two sin-binnings (for Donncha O'Callaghan and Rob Henderson) represented largesse Wasps were in no mood to decline.

Munster's veteran skipper, Jim Williams, an immense figure, called it as he saw it. No hard-luck stories. Asked to describe his emotions, he responded cryptically, "Can't really put it into words." But he wasn't for masking them.

"I think we've only ourselves to blame. We talked about discipline and we talked about getting field position but we let them back into the game. Wasps play a very good brand of pressure rugby. I think Munster are still learning to play that way.

"We've had far too many goes at it not to be able to master it. We didn't get (touch) kicks out. We didn't get the basics right. We had players off the paddock and we paid the ultimate price, and our defence is still a problem."

Even amid the post-match anti-climax, it had been a privilege to witness it. The game of the season in this country, for sure, as once again this competition put the Six Nations in the shade.

Brimming with pace, and attacking from all angles, Wasps always looked more threatening, outscoring Munster by five tries to two. But emotions ran high, and Wasps were, as Warren Gatland admitted, a mite too emotional for their own good in the first half. "We wouldn't have needed to open the dressing-room door, they could have gone through it."

Each side had two men sin-binned, and as the more cynical force, who fulfilled their billing as the bad guys dressed in black, Wasps came out better in that deal.

Their defensive coach Shaun Edwards, who played schools international rugby union when he was 16 before becoming a true legend of the league game, has been there and bought the T-shirt, yet was moved to remark: "You wouldn't rub that game off your video. An incredible game of rugby, probably the best I've ever seen. Playing against the wind, 10 points down, partisan crowd; we dug deep there. And that's due credit to our guys.

"We have a saying in Wasps that big games are won in the last 10 minutes," added Edwards. "I think it was the best, sheer intensity, emotion, cliffhanger, crowd, one team going into the lions' den. It was a little bit special, wasn't it?"

With true grit, Munster clung on grimly, taking time outs for injuries as they strove to stem Wasps' breathless momentum. The crowd, you sensed, were equally grateful for the respites, and the opportunities to catch their own breath. But there was no denying Wasps. They are some side, and they'll beat Toulouse, who were far more error-prone in their semi-final win over Biarritz the day before. A good game too, but an altogether inferior one. Wazza's Wasps look a good bet to dethrone the French aristocrats.

Revisiting his old stomping ground as a coach, Warren Gatland could hardly contain a small element of self-vindication. He declined to feel any pity for Munster, virtually assured of qualification every year compared to English clubs.

"I'm delighted to be Wasps' coach coming here, and know how difficult it was to get a result. The venue and that does add a little bit to the enjoyment. We knew how difficult it was going to be, and I'm just extremely proud of our players and our performance."

It had been a similar story with Connacht at a packed Galway Sportsground earlier in the day. Necks had strained from all corners of Lansdowne Road as the Red Army willed on their friends from the west, but although Michael Bradley's upstarts won the second leg of their Parker Pen European Challenge Cup semi-final 23-18, they lost out 49-45 on aggregate.

So both Euro finales will be Anglo-French affairs. C'est la vie.