Munster’s hopes of making the last 16 of the Heineken Champions Cup, took a huge boost as their defensive work rate saw them overcome Northampton this afternoon.

Northampton were overpowered at the set piece all afternoon, as Munster were well drilled in a ferocious defensive style backed by Denis Leamy as their defence coach, they have really become a force in defence.

Playing the majority of the second half without a full contingent on the field, they limited Saints to breaching their line, but their penalty count is one that will need addressing after the tie as they were very ill disciplined with 18 penalties conceded and three yellow cards shown.

Munster applied early pressure and were almost rewarded with a try as Keith Earls raced clear down the wing, he played a lovely kick in behind for Conor Murray but the Northampton defence was there to smother the ball, however the pressure was still on and they were penalised allowing Munster a penalty which they opted to kick for touch, they worked the lineout well and ran numerous phases but the Northampton defence kept their shape and eventually turned it over as Munster were off their feet.

It was all the visitors in terms of gaining territory in those opening minutes, they had a number of chances close to the line but just saw the ball turned over by mistakes, they would have a chance to redeem themselves as Northampton were penalised close to their line, it looked like Mike Haley had got over but an offside call gave Munster a tap and go shy of the line, their forwards pilled in and Gavin Coombes burst over for the opening try after 13 minutes, Joey Carbery adding the extras for a 7-0 lead.

Defence was the call shortly after the try as Munster tried no to lose shape immediately after taking the lead, they soaked up the Northampton attack but John Ryan was penalised giving them the chance to kick for the corner, they stayed on the assault but Munster had their number able to stop a try coming, it looked on the cards if they had played wide to space but were given a shot at the posts that Fin Smith converted to reduce the Munster lead to four with almost 20 minutes on the clock.

The Munstermen were well versed in forcing turnovers at the breakdown, mainly forcing Northampton into making mistakes that forced the referee to penalise them, it allowed Munster to get on the offensive front and a short while later again saw the ill discipline creeping into the Saints, as they were offside at the breakdown, giving Carbery another three points of the tee to extend the Munster lead to 10-3 after 26 minutes.

Not without their faults too Munster were guilty of conceding penalties themselves, Carbery found himself at fault this time he was adjudged to have obstructed a Northampton player on a high ball and Smith duly obliged from the tee to reduce the lead to four once more, just shy of the half hour mark.

Penalties, Penalties, Penalties, were the story of the opening half in Franklin’s Gardens, Munster again winning a penalty this time at halfway off their lineout maul, they kicked for the corner but knocked the ball onward as they went back for the Saints line, they had a second bite of the cherry as again Northampton were penalised for their scrum, another kick for the corner saw Munster again with a well worked lineout move and a quick pass by Tadhg Beirne off the lineout saw Coombes bulldoze his way past Smith over the line for his second try, Carbery making it a healthy 17-6 lead off the tee after 36 minutes.

Conditions started to worsen at the English venue as the second half commenced, plenty of creasy ball conditions making life difficult for the handlers, Saints started well again would again force Munster to defend with their lives at times but again right near the try line they would lose possession to yet another penalty call, Munster able to clear.

Scenes would turn nasty after 52 minutes as an all mighty scuffle broke out between the two teams in the middle of the field, referee Pierre-Baptiste Nuchy was busy with his TMO trying to find the culprits to the disagreement, eventually he would show yellow cards to both Jack O’Donoghue and Lewis Ludlam as both teams went down to 14 men.

Munster would almost have a triple whammy a short while later, Smith played a beautiful kick in behind for James Ramm to chase, he leaped into the air for the ball but was tackled by Craig Casey, the TMO was summoned once more to deliberate whether a penalty try was to be awarded, Casey did indeed tackle Ramm in the air stopping a clear try scoring chance, but the French referee only opted to give the Munster scrum half a yellow card, with a penalty for the hosts the only thing on offer for them, a huge let off for Munster.

The water tight defence of Munster was a thorn in the side of the Saints, limiting them to two penalties they soaked up numerous amounts of pressure to stop them getting a try, but their penalties conceded count kept rising and rising, with a third yellow card shown for an offside in the 67th minute as Joey Carbery was sent to the sin bin just as Casey had come back.

The defence of Munster deserves all the credit they were ferocious, powerful and superb as Northampton just could not breach them, they were guilty of giving away too many penalties but the result is a huge and important one, it gives them hope of bring European glory back to the province, inflicting a first loss in five games for the Saints at home.