David Corkery on rugby: Munster will need to be far more disciplined against Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle

It might have taken until the 65th minute for this game to ignite but it did so with a good degree of ferocity.

Munster fully deserved their win but Connacht will look back at their performance on this histor occasion and be bitterly disappointed that they failed to make the most of their numerical advantage. The loss also probably ends the Westerners' hopes of making it to the knock-out stages.

Not that Connacht ever need a reason to play well in front of their supporters but there was an extra edge on Saturday. They failed to grab it with both hands.

Many were expecting to see tears of passion and pride flowing from the eyes of the Connacht men as they emerged from the dressing rooms of Mayo GAA’s MacHale Park, but that was not to be the case. 

It almost seemed that they were expecting the occasion to just look after itself.

If the truth be told, it took until the last few exchanges for the players to give their home supporters something to roar about. Even with a two-man advantage at that point they still didn’t have the discipline, control and astuteness to get the job done.

With Alex Nankivell seeing red in the 25th minute and Tadgh Beirne and Niall Scannell both sent to the sin-bin in the second half, Connacht played vast periods of this game with over-lapping numbers and just couldn’t find a way to take full advantage.

UNDERDOGS

As Connacht always do, they huffed and puffed, but lacked the little bit of belief and killer instinct that bigger and more established sides have. Maybe it’s just a confidence thing, but whatever it is, until Connacht look to stop waving their underdog flags, they will never establish themselves as worthy contenders.

Playing against a considerable wind for the first 40 minutes, Connacht found it really difficult to exit their half. Credit must also go to Munster’s defence for halting what the men in green threw at them.

Kicking the ball would have yielded very little for the home side so their first option was to carry it and look to win the all-important gain-line. However, so fast, committed and strong was Munster's defence, Connacht constantly lost ground and ended up with little option but to kick away possession anyway.

So Munster went in at half-time with an 18-5 lead on the scoreboard and the record-breaking attendance were left with very little to get excited about.

Emerging for the second half with the wind at their backs and their one-man advantage, Connacht’s lively scrum-half Caolin Blade crossed the Munster try line and got them back within touching distance. 

It didn’t take long for Jack Crowley to re-establish the deficit between the sides when Connacht made a mess of the restart and he dotted down after a sublime pass.

At this point, it looked as if Munster were the side who had the extra man and when Munster hooker Diarmuid Barron crossed again with 20 minutes remaining, it appeared as if the game as a contest was done and dusted.

Thanks to the two yellow cards shown to Beirne and Scannell, Connacht did stage a spirited comeback but once again their inaccuracy left them crying at the altar and Munster left the home of Mayo GAA with a much-needed bonus-point win.

My thoughts on the Alex Nankivell red card are that it wasn’t in any way intentional but in terms of possible outcomes as a result of the incident, Cian Prendergast was very lucky.

Hopefully, the Connacht captain will make a quick recovery, but World Rugby have some serious work to do in terms of making the clean-out of the ruck a safer part of the game.

Next week Munster will be running out in the picturesque setting of La Rochelle for their mouth-watering European Cup tie with Ronan O’Gara’s side.

La Rochelle might not be playing well at the moment, but this game will have very little to do with form and Munster should be preparing for an onslaught.