By Cathal Dervan

Munster came from behind to finally see off the Newport Gwent Dragons with a 30-18 win at Thomond Park on Saturday, a result that keeps them on course for the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup.

Declan Kidney’s team must now beat Castres away and Sale at home to qualify for the quarterfinals as one of the two best runners-up, but captain Anthony Foley believes the Dragons could yet do his team a favor.

Sale, visitors to Thomond in the final series of group games, may have maintained their 100% record at the top of the Pool One Table thanks to Friday night’s win over Castres, but Foley is refusing to accept his team will finish second at best in this table.

“I wouldn’t assume Sale will remain unbeaten in their final two games,” insisted Foley afterwards despite the failure to land a bonus point. “Newport go there in the next round and don’t anyone tell me that is not a very good Dragons side.

“We knew that from last week which is why we paid no attention to the theory that this would be easy for us. The Dragons put it up to us today and I don’t believe they will roll over at Sale. There is a lot of rugby left in this group so don’t assume Sale will win it.”

The Dragons survived early pressure to take a shock second half lead before Munster woke up and secured victory with a Jerry Flannery try and two penalties from Ronan O’Gara late on.

Munster coach Kidney admitted afterwards, “We got a fright there. Newport showed the quality they have to run in scores like that but nothing that they did surprised me really.

“The worry was would we be able to get back into it? We fell into it at times but that’s why possession was so vital. To keep our composure and produce a final 12 minutes like we did when we scored 13 points and were still looking for the ball and the bonus point is a credit to the players.

“The players can’t be faulted for not going for the bonus point this week. It was certainly topsy turvy, we are nothing if not entertaining.”

Leinster’s Loss

LEINSTER have it all to do to make the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup after falling victim to a last minute penalty from full-back Alexander Peclier in the 30-28 defeat away to Bourgoin on Saturday.

That was Leinster’s second defeat in the Pool stages and coach Michael Cheika admitted afterwards, “Since losing to Bath in October, we’ve targeted five wins. After this setback, it’s down to four but at least we still have a chance of qualifying and that means beating Glasgow at home and Bath away.

“It will be a tough task, but I’ve seen enough in this side to know that it’s achievable. Having Brian O’Driscoll back fit will be a boost.

“We very nearly pulled it off today. I was very pleased with how we came back. Bourgoin were a different side from last week as we knew they would be.

“They’re pretty formidable at home — they haven’t lost here for something like 11 months. Yeah, I though we could have shown more composure when we went in front, but it’s a difficult ask to keep a one-point lead for the final 20 minutes in a difficult atmosphere.”

Ulster Out

ULSTER coach Mark McCall saw his side kiss their Heineken Cup hopes goodbye when the video ref denied the visitors a last gasp Kevin Maggs try in the 18-10 defeat at Saracens on Saturday, but he refused to blame the match officials afterwards.

The video official judged that center Andrew Trimble had stepped into touch before releasing Maggs, but European Cup rules state only the legality of the try scorer’s movement can be analyzed by video evidence.

“My understanding is that you can go upstairs for the try scorer but not the person who gave the pass so in that respect the officials got it wrong. But we don’t feel cheated because it wasn’t a try,” McCall said.

“It will be difficult for us to qualify now. Ideally we needed to win today and if not we needed a bonus point. We’ll do our best in the last two games. We dug in, scrambled and did our best but on the day it just wasn’t good enough. Saracens played a lot better than last week.”

McGinley’s Honors

PAUL McGinley, named Ireland’s golfer of the year last week, has won the European tour’s shot of the year award for his approach to the 17th in the final round of the Volvo Masters victory at Valderrama in October.

“There have been a few memorable shots during my career, such as holing the winning putt in the 2002 Ryder Cup, but that was for the team as much as myself,” McGinley said.

“I had been very close to winning in 2005 but hadn’t managed to get my hands on a trophy, so it was a highly charged and tense moment on the 17th at Valderrama.

“Everyone knows how dangerous that hole can be and I knew that the slightest mistake could be fatal. I deliberately tried to leave myself a full sand wedge so I laid up with a nine-iron for my second shot and got my yardage exactly right.

“I wanted the ball to pitch and stop on the top tier and that meant controlling the spin. With the adrenaline rush, I could easily have gone over the back of the green and faced a treacherous downhill chip or gone into the water.

“I didn’t fancy either option, so it was a great relief to see the ball finish close. When I holed the birdie putt I knew I was in a strong position to win the most important title of my career.”

Sports Shorts

LEADING Irish jockey Kieren Fallon has changed his mind and will not move to California now that the English flat season is over. Fallon revealed, “I don’t think I’ll be able to ride in California. I was looking forward to going, but I’ve had second thoughts.” . . .

THE Irish rugby squad departed for a warm weather training camp in Lanzarote on Sunday without injured pair Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell and British based players Simon Easterby, Johnny O’Connor and Geordan Murphy . . .

IRELAND will play two tests against New Zealand next summer in Hamilton and Auckland before concluding their June tour with a game against Australia in Perth.