RUGBY:Munster being the drama kings they are, it was almost ordained to come down to a death-or-glory, win-or-bust climax against the reigning champions from England, Lawrence Dallaglio et al, in a Saturday tea-time clash under floodlights at the coliseum, otherwise known as Thomond Park. Munster don't do damp squibs.

So it was yesterday too. Their scrum in ruins, barely able to hold onto the ball as Clermont Auvergne launched attack after attack as the bands played, trailing 20-3 in first-half injury time and 23-6 nearing the hour mark, Munster extracted a bonus point where others would surely have been thrashed out of sight.

Such are the predictably tight margins in this group that the net effect is Munster are not only alive in the "Pool of Death" but have their destiny in their own hands, while Clermont are effectively out or at any rate are relying on favours.

Though Llanelli did Munster no favours with their under-strength selection in a 40-7 defeat to Wasps yesterday, if Munster win next week, even if Wasps take a bonus point, Munster would, given the head-to-head record, go through if they score as many tries as Wasps and win by more than a point in Limerick.

If two or more sides finish level on points, final placings will be decided first by match points, then try count and finally points aggregate in head-to-heads.

Wasps won the first match 24-23, each side scoring two tries. Munster just need to better that.

If Clermont win with a bonus point in Stradey Park, that could actually help Munster, because if Munster win by any margin they would have a better head-to-head record against Clermont and, on match points in the relevant six matches, would also have a better record than their main pool rivals in a three-way tie on 19 points.

That said, coach Declan Kidney could scarcely hide his disappointment: "We didn't have the ball for the first 32 minutes and when you do that against a quality side you're going to pay for it. We were trying to clear our lines into a bit of a breeze and we made a lot of turnovers in that first 32 minutes, and we just couldn't seem to get our hands on the ball for a number of phases.

"I would never question the lads' spirit but we just needed to have a real go at today's match and I'm quite hopeful that people will take responsibility for that first 32 minutes.

"And if you want to pile on the negatives we've lost two pool games.

"There's a dose of reality which says we've lost and we've no chance of going through if we play like that again, but at the same time we've given ourselves a chance. We're going to need all of our players at their best next week because of all the days we need to give the crowd something it is next week.

"They (Wasps) are the reigning European champions. They're fighting for their lives too and it doesn't get any harder than that."

A 2,000-plus red army invaded the wealthy epicentre of the Michelin empire, thronging the main square and tram-tracked streets en route to the impressive Parc des Sports Michelin on a glorious, sun-kissed afternoon in the Auvergne; the city surrounded by snow-peaked mountains.

Come the 4pm kick-off the temperature dipped, rapidly so as the sun went down, but the 18,000 capacity crowd fairly throbbed in anticipation.

For the impassioned home fans, the denouement was cruelly disappointing. Their apparently clear-cut victory having been trimmed to seven points and the concession of that costly bonus point after three of their players had been binned, they were so infuriated that referee Rob Debney had to be given a police escort off the pitch. Soon after though, the home band were sportingly playing Ireland's Call for the benefit of the visitors.

There may be repercussions from such a feisty affair. Ronan O'Gara needed 20 stitches above an ear after an apparent stamp.

"His ear is cut," said Kidney curtly, clearly relieved he didn't have to add the word "off".

Jerry Flannery could, apparently, also be in bother for reportedly stamping on Julien Bonnaire.

Realistically, the consequences of this second pool defeat are that Munster most probably cannot now secure a lucrative and advantageous home quarter-final.

Indeed, if they were to beat Wasps, they would probably go through to the last eight as fifth- or sixth-ranked pool winners and face a quarter-final against Cardiff, Gloucester or London Irish.

Despite their heroics against Toulouse, Leinster, without a bonus point to date, are now the sixth-ranked second placers. Bar an Edinburgh win in Toulouse, Leinster would need a freakish sequence of results, beginning with the Ospreys losing by more than seven points in Bourgoin, to have an earthly of squeezing through as runners-up.