European Cup Pool Four/Munster - 32 Cardiff - 18:Trevor Halstead turned his hip into the tackler, planted his feet and waited for his comrades to arrive. The South African was enveloped by a swarm of red jerseys just inside their opponents' 22, no demarcation between backs and forwards as the Munster maul trundled toward the Cardiff line, reaching their destination with one last, emphatic shove.
Alan Quinlan emerged from the mass of bodies clutching the ball and accepting congratulations. It marked the Irish province's fourth try - securing the bonus point - eight minutes into injury time at the end of a Heineken European Cup pool match in which the home side had been subjected to serious discomfort.
There might have been considerably less Christmas cheer had Cardiff centre Jamie Robinson held onto a routine pass with the Munster try line beckoning on 61 minutes. Fullback Ben Blair led a sweeping counterattack and his transfer was perfect - unlike Robinson's hands; the ball careered to earth and the Munster faithful exhaled.
A converted try at that point would have seen the teams tied 25-25 with an uncomfortable final quarter looming. The Munster script would have been dropped in the shredder.
There was an integrity to Cardiff's performance, a gritty honesty, epitomised by uncompromising defence and resolve to contest every ball: stand up and fight, they certainly did.
They were helped in part by Joël Jutge's reluctance to brandish a yellow card in the second half (flanker Martyn Williams had been shown one - for the second match in succession - in first-half injury time) when the visitors gave away a succession of penalties in their own 22.
Cumulative transgressions merited another sinbinning, but the Welsh club took the calculated gamble of collapsing several mauls and survived with a full complement of players. If that smacked of good fortune, they were unlucky to have conceded that final try, a point touched on by their coach Dai Young in the aftermath.
Cardiff captain and number eight Xavier Rush chivvied his charges and elicited a committed response, especially from centre, then wing, Tom Shanklin, who brought many a Munster attack to an emphatic end.
Yet while there was much to admire in the attitude of the Welsh, Munster were sometimes hindered by flawed decision-making and sloppy execution.
It extended to an overuse of the short side when there were yawning gaps and numerical advantages on the other flank and, unusually, a lack of patience.
Munster are renowned for their collective ethos but on a few occasions white-line fever gripped one or two individuals. Players ended up isolated and turnovers ensued, often within the shadow of the Cardiff posts.
Munster coach Declan Kidney distilled the events of a drizzly Limerick evening into a mathematical equation: back-to-back wins against Cardiff equal nine points.
It was a fair summation; the central objective of these two European games was to copperfasten the province's place at the head of Pool Four, which they accomplished.
It wasn't that Kidney was oblivious to his team's shortcomings; he conceded he wasn't happy "with our use of multi-phase ball" and failure to "put width on the game".
The opening stanzas of Munster's afternoon had been eloquent, despite the concession of a couple of early penalties, the second of which Cardiff fullback Blair posted.
After David Wallace had been held up over the line, Munster tweaked a five-metre scrum and Denis Leamy stepped outside and inside a couple of weak tackles to cross for a try. Ronan O'Gara converted, as he would do on 19 minutes when Leamy was again the try scorer.
Peter Stringer, who tormented his opposite number, Mike Phillips, all afternoon, followed up his own clever kick, which Phillips had knocked into touch. The Munster scrumhalf rescued the ball, spotted Leamy charging up and hit him with a quick throw. The Co Tipperary native still had plenty to do but his speed and strength brought the required outcome.
During the early exchanges Munster captain Paul O'Connell had elected not to go for goal with a couple of kickable penalty chances, thereby ramping up the pressure and offering a statement of intent.
Cruising at this point, Munster conceded 10 points before the interval, Blair kicking a penalty and converting a try by Jamie Robinson that came from a stray pass from Barry Murphy that allowed a 75-metre kick and chase.
O'Gara tagged on a couple of penalties to leave the home side 20-13 ahead at the interval.
Murphy atoned with a gliding break for a try after the restart but Cardiff responded with a try from replacement Mark Lewis following excellent continuity and a couple of huge cut-out passes. Blair converted and at 25-18 the match was a contest again before Quinlan applied the punctuation mark to the afternoon.
Munster's lineout was flawless. The back row of Quinlan, Wallace and Leamy was excellent, as were Trevor Halstead and Murphy in the centre. Young prop Darragh Hurley did well on his first start.
The manner of the win might be less satisfactory than the result, a tournament-record 12th successive victory. But the scoreline is the only commodity that matters when Munster re-enter Europe in January on the shores of Lake Geneva.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 3 mins: Blair pen, 0-3; 7: Leamy try, O'Gara con, 7-3; 19: Leamy try, O'Gara con, 14-3; 24: Blair pen, 14-6; 26: O'Gara pen, 17-6; 40(+2): Robinson try, Blair con, 17-13; 40(+4): O'Gara pen, 20-13 (half-time: 20-13); 48: Murphy try, 25-13; 60: Lewis try, 25-18; 87: Quinlan try, O'Gara con, 32-18.
MUNSTER: S Payne; J Kelly, B Murphy, T Halstead, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer; D Hurley, F Sheahan, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt); A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: F Pucciariello for Hurley (65 mins).
CARDIFF: B Blair; T James, J Robinson, T Shanklin, C Czekaj; N Macleod, M Phillips; J Yapp, R Thomas, T Filise; B Davies, D Jones; S Morgan, M Williams, X Rush (capt). Replacements: M Stcherbina for James (20 mins); G Powell for Filise, M Lewis for Jones (both 50 mins); G Williams for Thomas, N Robinson for Stcherbina (both 61 mins); B White for Lewis (75 mins). Sinbinned: Williams 40(+5) mins).
Referee: J Jutge (France).
