Mallinder bows to mighty Munster

Northampton Saints coach Jim Mallinder was full of praise for mighty Munster after they notched a record Heineken Cup score against his side on Saturday.

"They raised their game from their previous five in the Heineken Cup. They looked after the ball and we gave away," said Mallinder, whose side finished third in the pool the season after reaching the final as the Scarlets leapfrogged them after their win in Castres.

The Saints boss admitted that his side let themselves down in basic areas of the game, like the restarts.
 
"You talk about getting your set-piece right but while our scrum was good we didn't get our re-starts right. Our re-starts meant we couldn't get out of our own half.

"You can't just have dominance in the scrum and expect to win the game. Munster dominated every other area and came out on top.

"We played badly today. We got back to within five points in the second half, but then gave away an interception and that was game over,"he said.

Malinder was philosphical about the drubbing his team took, reasoning that Munster are one of the favourites in the competition and were near unstoppable on the day.

"We were competing against one of Europe's best sides and, while we did well in Munster and could easily have won, this time we came second best.

"What they did very well was slow us down in the contact area. We couldn't get on the front foot and get the ball wide.

"They have a good chance now. They raised their game and I thought they were very good," Mallinder said.