Desire and an unshakeable belief took Munster through, reflects McGahan

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan has hailed his players' desire and belief after the province secured their passage into the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for a 12th straight season.

McGahan's side also clinched a home tie in the last eight of the competition by grinding out a nail-biting 12-9 victory over a gritty Northampton side at Thomond Park on Friday evening.

Munster overcame the loss of captain Paul O'Connell to the sin-bin at the start of the final quarter and were forced to withstand almost constant Saints pressure in the second period before recording a precious victory.

"I thought the lads were excellent. I felt we showed some great desire and effort. They really showed how much it means to play for Munster," McGahan said.

"We were under severe pressure at that stage in the second half. We kicked the ball out on the full. We had a few issues in the scrum and Paul O'Connell was off for ten minutes.

"To dog it out and find a way out… We worked extremely hard on the floor. We got turnover ball, were lucky enough to get it downfield and then get three points. We always had belief. We have said that many a time that we are always able to come back from any situation." Munster captain O'Connell agreed that the game had proved to be a battle of attrition and he was just happy to record a win, founded on Ronan O'Gara's four penalty goals.

"It was a good win. We did not play fabulously well. It was like a cup final out there. Very often the rugby isn't great," he admitted. "Defensively both sides were so up for it. They are so well drilled. That is the way it was out there. There was so little space out there. It was a real battle of attrition at times. We were lucky Rog (Ronan O'Gara] put over the penalties.

"We are very happy to win that game. Northampton are an excellent side. In terms of being up and running, that was probably our toughest game of the pool.

"As for the sin-binning, the referee (Romain Poite) said it was a ruck, but I thought the ball was two feet off the ground. It can't be a ruck then.

"When Northampton were pressing hard in the second half and I was in the sin-bin, I think Doug Howlett came into the scrum and Alan Quinlan came into the second row. That was a massive piece of mental strength to turn them over and clear the ball. It is probably what won the game for us."