Northampton Saints coach Jim Mallinder could not but praise Munster after the Irish province’s high-scoring win over his side on Saturday.
Tony McGahan’s men made it six wins out of six in Pool 1 of the Heineken Cup to secure top ranking for the knockout stages, their pool campaign culminating in a 51-36 success over last year’s runners-up in Milton Keynes on Saturday.
Munster, who many people felt had gone to the wall once too many times, are now well-placed for a crack at a third European Cup, after Simon Zebo proved to be the star man against Northampton. And Saints boss Mallinder says that McGahan’s men showed brilliance in every aspect of their game as they left his side third in the pool with Saturday’s showing.
"They raised their game from their previous five in the Heineken Cup,” Mallinder told Sky Sports.
“They looked after the ball and we gave away. 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.
"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."