Reasons To Be Cheerful

On the face of it Munster had little to be cheerful about last Friday, the defeat in Swansea at the hands of the Ospreys made for a poor start to the season but the overall performance

On the face of it Munster had little to be cheerful about last Friday, the defeat in Swansea at the hands of the Ospreys made for a poor start to the season but the performances of some individuals, notably Denis Leamy and Christian Cullen will have acted as a form of consolation.

Munster were well in the hunt after half an hour but gave away two soft tries that left them fighting an uphill battle for the remainder of the game.

Cullen’s first try, converted by Paul Burke, reduced the deficit to ten points and his second in the closing stages came too late to affect the outcome but those scores and his overall contribution leaves Munster fans eagerly awaiting his next outing which comes on Saturday against Connacht at Musgrave Park.

All in all he would have to have been happy with his performance even though he ended up on a side that was beaten by double scores. Never less than safe-as-houses throughout the game, he made a trademark scything break from inside his own 22 in the opening half and was constantly in support and looking for opportunities.

Afterwards he had a somewhat hurried re-union with former Wellingtons team-mate Jason Spice – Munster flying back home late that night – and Cullen s satisfaction with his own display was tempered by the overall outcome.

“I did some good things out there tonight, some not so good. It was difficult for us because they weren t allowing us much good ball. They had the edge in the set piece.

“I thought we were going ok early on. We had held onto them, put them under pressure a few times. Then the try from Jason (Spice) set us back and the second came shortly after when we lost the ball going forward. After that it was tough.

” I dont think we can make any excuses. OK it was the first competitive game but we just need to tighten up in a few areas. Next week we re at home and I m looking forward to playing at Musgrave Park.”