To a man every Munster played their hearts out in what was a momentous victory for Munster at the Stoop and they were led in typical fashion by the great man himself.
Few gave Rob Penney’s side any chance of defeating Harlequins on their own turf and while it may be a tired cliché at this stage, it is as relevant to Munster as it is to the Germans; you simply can’t write them off… especially when Paul O’Connell is around.
The big man was immense while standing in as captain for Doug Howlett and gave the watching Warren Gatland plenty of food for thought, not only about his place in the Lions squad and possible place in the test team, but potentially as a captain for the second Lions tour in succession.
For now, O’Connell will just be happy about having led his men into a Heineken Cup semi-final and as the pictures (click next above) testify, he looked absolutely delighted about it. And why wouldn’t he?
Truly inspirational stuff.
All pictures via Inpho/Dan Sheridan
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