EUROPEAN CUP: Munster - 51 Harlequins - 17: What grated with the Munster players most in the wake of their Celtic final defeat to Leinster was their lack of ruthlessness.
In subsequent team meetings they resolved to rediscover their killer instinct if they had opponents on the ropes and in a sense it was Harlequins' misfortune that they were served up next. Munster simply devoured them at Thomond Park on Saturday.
Refusing to let up even when the game was won at 37-17 entering the last 10 minutes, the sight of Quins' openside Tu Tamarua being sinbinned was their cue. Munster went for the kill against wounded prey, and tacked on a couple more tries to post their first half century in the Heineken Cup, their score and their winning margin eclipsing the 49-22 win over Wasps here five seasons ago.
Admittedly, it might have been even more. Jeremy Staunton provided an electrifying little cameo at the end (surely this awesome talent should be playing bigger roles than that?) which might have yielded a couple of tries and saw him fail to ground the ball properly over the line.
Earlier, too, an Anthony Foley try between the posts was disallowed after an off-the-ball scuffle on the fringe between Alan Quinlan and Tamarua, while John Kelly made a clean incision only to find no support for a run-in. Although Ronan O'Gara found his range nicely to land eight from a dozen for a 21-point haul, one of the four misses was a touchline conversion which hit the upright, so all in all this could easily have been 60 or 70. Harlequins were that bad.
When Paul Burke, who looks in prime nick and unerringly landed three difficult kicks out of three, was pulling the strings and Quins were applying some width and continuity to their game, they did cause Munster some problems but for the most part they played like a team whose interest in this competition was purely academic.
Harlequins palpably lacked real stomach for the fight and uppermost among the disappointments was Will Greenwood's lacklustre performance - the English and twice Lions centre once even taking a low pass from Nick Duncombe by disdainfully kicking it ahead on the volley.
In mitigation of the visitors, they were missing 11 first-team squad players. Hence, Duncombe was a debutant scrum-half, David Slemen was playing his first competitive game at full back and Jonny Roddam, who turned 20 a month ago, was their fifth choice, debutant hooker.
Viewed in that light, record win though it was, Munster weren't at their vintage best - in the first-half especially. Unusually, Harlequins competed well on the Munster throw to disrupt it and ensure some poor quality ball, and likewise Munster didn't always get the numbers to rucks to ensure Mike Prendergast of a smooth supply of loose ball.
The referee Stefano Mancini didn't help with a number of fastidious decisions which baffled both camps and left John Kingston fuming afterwards. The offside line, especially around the fringes, was something of a blur as opposed to a clear line and Mick O'Driscoll, who had a big, big game, was taken out in the air with impunity - particularly at restarts - until Mancini finally penalised Harlequins after a quiet word from Mick Galwey.
However, when the industrious John Kelly pilfered an early ball in contact to stem a promising Harlequins drive from the kick-off, it set a tone, Munster's pressure defence enabling them to feed hungrily off the many forced Harelquins' turnovers. They led from the sixth minute when the mighty Jim Williams, a towering man of the match, atoned for not giving a try scoring pass out to Anthony Horgan with his third involvement in the move when popping up the ball in the tackle for Jason Holland to open the scoring with his fourth try in five Euro outings.
It's hard not to think that Rob Henderson's strong running (not to mention Staunton's cutting edge at full back) wouldn't add further to Munster's attacking game, yet a reversion to the tried and trusted yielded fair reward. Holland further underlined his value to the team with a crucial hand in the Dominic Crotty and Quinlan tries, Mick Galwey and the deserving Frankie Sheahan were at the sharp end of line-out drives, while on half-time Foley got his just desserts, his 10th try overall in the competition, after excellent probing by O'Gara.
Kingston thought O'Gara's flatter alignment and distribution added to a powerful Munster display compared to last October's meeting, but reckoned that unless Munster got Leicester at Thomond Park, then the English and European champions remain the likeliest to win the Cup.
"I'd love to see Munster win it but home advantage (in the quarter-finals) is absolutely crucial," maintained the Quins' coach. For that to happen, Munster will probably have to beat Castres away. But it has assuredly benefited them that Harlequins were served up ahead of Castres.
Scoring sequence: 6 mins: Holland try, 5-0; 18 mins: Burke pen, 5-3; 22 mins: O'Gara pen, 8-3; 27 mins: Sheahan try, 13-3; 33 mins: O'Gara pen, 16-3; 39 mins: Duncombe try, Burke con, 16-10; 40 mins: Foley try, O'Gara con, 23-10; (half-time 23-10); 42 mins: O'Gara pen, 26-10; 47 mins: Diprose try, Burke con, 26-17; 50 mins: O'Gara pen, 29-17; 54 mins: O'Gara pen, 32-17; 61 mins: Crotty try, 37-17; 71 mins: Galwey try, O'Gara con, 44-17; 74 mins: Quinlan try, O'Gara con, 51-17.
MUNSTER: D Crotty; J Kelly, M Mullins, J Holland, A Horgan; R O'Gara, M Prendergast; M Horan, F Sheahan, P Clohessy, M Galwey, M O'Driscoll, J Williams, A Foley, A Quinlan. Replacements: M Cahill for Clohessy (61 mins), D O'Callaghan for Galwey, D Hegarty for Prendergast (both 72 mins), J Staunton for Crotty, J O'Neill for Mullins (both 76 mins), C McMahon for Williams (79 mins), J Blaney for O'Gara (80 mins).
HARLEQUINS: D Slemen; M Moore, W Greenwood, N Burrows, D Luger; P Burke, N Duncombe; B Starr, J Roddam, J Dawson, G Morgan (capt), B Davison, S White-Cooper, T Diprose, T Tamarua. Replacements:_ A Codling for Morgan, M Mapletoft for Burke, R Jewell for Burrows (all 56 mins), A Alesbrook for White-Cooper (61 mins), B Douglas for Dawson (72 mins). Sinbinned _ Tamarua 70-80 mins.
Referee: S Mancini (Italy).
