Things are tight at the Conference B in the Pro 14, and Munster coach Johaan van Graan not surprisingly was quick to point out the importance of his side getting the better of Connacht at the Sportsground on Saturday evening.
Munster are now four points clear of Andy Friend's side at the top of the section after a 19-14 victory, with Jack O'Donoghue's 25th-minute try, coupled with 14 points from the boot of JJ Hanrahan, securing a sixth league win of the season.
"It's a massive win for us because we knew this was a game between the two top teams in the conference, so to beat Connacht away was a huge achievement," Van Graan outlined to RTÉ Sport's Michael Corcoran.
"We had to be at our best to beat them. I thought it was a clinical performance from our side. I think we physically fronted up - their tight five are very experienced and I thought we handled them pretty well. Our back three were excellent, something like 29 caps between them.
"Looking at the squad we had 18 guys who weren't available and it's great to see the next guys stepping up.
"We were composed, we kept our head when Connacht got a try late on. All credit to CJ (Stander), Billy (Holland) and JJ (Hanrahan), those last few minutes was a good sign of maturity from the group."
As for Andy Friend, well frustration was evident when he summed up the game.
"We can't play like that and expect to get a result. There were too many errors, we talked about it during the week but they crept in again tonight. Munster did what they had to do; they were waiting for us to make those errors.
The Sportsground is meant to be a fortress, but if you give away all that possession you're not going to win.
"I felt we gifted Munster ten points."
