Munster interim head coach Ian Costello believes his side made a considerable step forward in their progress after a resounding 33-7 Champions Cup victory over Stade Francais.
After ending a three-game losing streak with a URC win against the Lions last weekend, Munster delivered a bonus-point start to their Pool 3 campaign on a freezing night in Limerick.
The hosts scored five tries in total, two of which came after the French outfit had both second rows, Pierre-Henri Azagoh and Baptiste Pesenti, sent off in a four-minute spell at the start of the second half.
“Again, like last week, there were some elements of the performance that we were delighted with,” said Costello. “I think it was probably a significant step up even.
“Obviously there was 15-18 minutes where we lost our way a little bit and it turned into a bit of a strange game but 60 minutes of that, we were really happy with.
“Specifically, our lineout was 100% again, looked really crisp, scrum was really solid, and when the game was quick, I thought we looked really, really good.
“For the second week in a row, I thought bar one moment, our defence was outstanding.
“And our attack was so good getting close to the line, but we left a few chances close to the line behind us. But that’s exciting, we have something to build on for the next six days.”
Munster opened the scoring 16 minutes in with player of the match Thaakir Abrahams touching down before centurion Shane Daly grabbed a second in the 29th minute.
“I think we had to grind it out, the first 20 minutes, in particular,” captain Diarmuid Barron, whose side travel to Castres on Friday, said.
“Stade were incredibly physical, felt every bit of it and we had to come out.
“Those two first tries felt satisfying because we did have to work hard for them and to finish the way we finished as well, I know they were down to 13 but you know, like Cozzy said, it got messy for a bit and we had the composure to come back and finish that in the corner.
“So that was satisfying as well.”
Alex Kendellen, Tom Farrell and Gavin Coombes added second-half tries for Munster, while the visitors grabbed a late consolation.
Meanwhile, Stade head coach Paul Gustard was left to rue his side’s loss of discipline at the start of the second period.
“At half-time we were relatively happy, 14-nil down playing into a strong wind,” he told.
“We did a lot of things well…then two relatively easy tries in the end for Munster.
“Then second half, we had 10 minutes of madness that really cost us dear.
“It’s difficult to watch. The first one, probably no complaints, the second one was one of those that looks a bit worse than it was. I can understand why it was a red card but to lose both the second rows, it took a lot of juggling around.
“In the end it was just too much, you can’t play against a team with the international quality that Munster have and try and win a match.”
