Munster coach Tony McGahan likens his side's Heineken Cup win against Montauban to "The Great Escape".
McGahan relieved as his side scrape past Montauban
Munster coach Tony McGahan likened his sides 19-17 Heineken Cup Pool One victory over Montauban to 'The Great Escape' as the defending champions suffered a scare against their French opponents.
Petre Mitu looked to have given the newcomers a shock win, kicking Montauban into a 17-16 lead only for Ronan O'Gara to break French hearts with a 78th minute penalty.
Montauban, who were missing a host of first team players, would have joined Leicester in an exclusive club that have won at Thomond Park.
"The scoreline certainly suggests we were lucky to get away with a win. We were lucky to get a penalty in the 78th minute," McGahan said afterwards.
"We've spoken all week about Montauban coming here with absolutely nothing to lose, that they would be looking to slow down the game.
"They just kept hanging in and feeding off our mistakes and in the end it was a great escape.
"We did a lot of work on them, we certainly knew they'd come to play, we knew that they would be aggressive, kick a lot...all those things.
"We spoke about it today. There was no surprise in anything that occurred out there this evening from them."
Errors
Too many unforced errors blighted the Munster performance, but McGahan believes his team were close to turning linebreaks into scores.
"We weren't far away, we had ten to 12 linebreaks - most of those in the first half - and if we had converted a couple of those it may have been an easy night at the office.
"It wasn't to be. The end detail in what we're doing, the finishing wasn't there so therefore we found ourselves with time ticking away looking for a win."
McGahan was angry at earlier suggestions that he said a bonus point was on offer against such lowly opposition.
The Australian said: "The question was asked: 'Do you think you can get five points?' Normally, I said, if we played to our ability five points would be there on offer. It's a completely different answer."
Hooker Jerry Flannery gave credit to Montauban for the way they played, despite the fact a few of their bigger names were left in France.
He said: "We got out jail in the end. We knew they wouldn't come here to make up the numbers - that's something we talked about during the week.
"It didn't matter what sort of a side they'd send over. We knew the media would make a big story of it, that they left their bigger names at home.
"It makes for a good story, maybe not giving the tournament enough respect.
"We've seen from the past when we played Clermont last season at home. They're good sides and there is no such thing as an easy game in the Heineken Cup."
Disappointment
Montauban joint-coach Laurent Travers was ruing on missed opportunities as he summed up the visitors' evening.
"It's the 'nearly won' idea that upsets me - we could have won this. We are disappointed," he explained.
"We knew it would be difficult for us, but there was never any question that we were throwing this game. We knew we have a sound collective spirit."
