Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Sat 03 Mar 2007Munster's defence never gets startedRUGBY:Munster are Heineken European Cup champions no longer. It would have taken a near vintage Munster effort to subdue a deeply impressive and much more hard-running, aggressive and high tempo Llanelli last night in Stradey Park, where the Scarlets hadn't lost in 14 months, and this was far from Munster at their best.On the back foot defensively, where there were too many holes in midfield and outside, Munster could on another night have hung onto Llanelli's shirt-tails until their time came. But trailing 17-0 at the break, they were forced into playing catch-up. They showed their pride, but it always looked beyond even these Houdinesque champions, and they went down 24-15.