Munster coach Tony McGahan refused to pass judgement on the incident that saw Paul O'Connell sent off against the Ospreys.
Munster coach needs time to review O'Connell dismissal
Munster coach Tony McGahan has refused to pass judgement on the incident that led to Paul O'Connell being sent off against the Ospreys.
The club captain was shown the red card after swinging his arm into the face of Jonathan Thomas during Munster's 22-16 win in the Heineken Cup clash at Thomond Park.
O'Connell had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes, making another appearance from the bench as he continues his comeback from a long injury absence.
The decision angered the home crowd but McGahan, who says he has not yet spoken to O'Connell about the incident, thinks he needs more time to analyse what happened.
"I was hoping I was colour blind! But unfortunately my eyesight is good enough because I'm still young," he said.
Depth
"We had a brief look at it. We really haven't looked at it in enough depth to give any real comment.
"What we saw was the same as what everyone else saw, a reaction to (Thomas) holding onto the jersey. I'll have to give it a bit more thought. It doesn't serve any purpose for us to get caught up in that while the game was going on."
He added: "I was shocked really, but we just had to get on and deal with it."
Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys chose not to criticise O'Connell but still thinks the Ireland lock could be handed a lengthy suspension.
"First of all, Paul O'Connell is not a dirty player by any stretch of the imagination," Humphreys said.
"A very similar thing happened to Gavin Henson for a similar incident and unfortunately he got 10 weeks for that.
Iconic
"We have a lot of admiration for Paul as a player. He's a very iconic figure here. So it's very disappointing for him. He could miss a large chunk of the season now."
Despite the red card taking some of the shine off, Munster consolidated themselves at the top of Pool Three with the victory.
The Irish side are now two points clear of Toulon, who beat London Irish on Sunday, and four points ahead of the Ospreys in third.
McGahan added: "It's a tough pool, and to win at home is really important for our outlook on the rest of the games.
"When you're behind 13-8 with fifty minutes on the clock, you're just looking to get a result, and that was our whole focus of the game.
"We'd have liked to deny the opposition that but they were good enough to get it, so you have to give respect."
