Graham Rowntree said Munster must work harder at denying opposition teams access to their 22 after his battling side fell short against Toulouse in their Heineken Champions Cup opener.
Both of Toulouse's tries came after they were gifted five-metre lineouts by their hosts, with Matthis Lebel cancelling out Joey Carbery's 10th-minute opener before replacement Lucas Tauzin crossed shortly after the restart.
Munster went toe to toe with a visiting side packed with power and just one score separated the teams entering the closing stages in worsening conditions at a foggy and freezing Thomond Park, but they were forced to settle for a losing bonus point in an 18-13 defeat.
'I actually thought we did some good things with the ball in hand but you're only as good as your defensive maul or your attacking maul' - Munster head coach Graham Rowntree reflects on Munster's 18-13 loss at home to Toulouse #RTERugby pic.twitter.com/hoCTVahkNn
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) December 11, 2022
"It came down to power, their maul versus our maul ultimately," Munster head coach Rowntree told RTÉ Sport.
"We spoke about denying [22] access but we gave a scrum penalty away and then we’re defending a maul. They don’t score off the maul directly but they do score two phases afterwards.
"Then at the start of the second half we do the same thing. We’re defending on our own goal-line, they broke out of that.
"Minutes after that we had an opportunity to do that to them and we turned the ball over on their five-metre line. They’re the moments.
"Apart from that, I thought our attack showed massive signs of improvement against a very good defensive breakdown. But we have to look at those areas where we give them easy access to our five-metre line."
'There were occasions where they had Toulouse under the cosh and they made mistakes'
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) December 11, 2022
Jamie Heaslip and Eddie O'Sullivan suggest a lack of ruthlessness cost Munster
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Munster went in level at half-time thanks to Carbery’s late penalty but they were hit with a sucker-punch three minutes into the second period when Tauzin scored with his first touch.
"We spoke about winning the next 10 minutes at half-time," said Rowntree.
"We make an error, an unfortunate error from Joey Carbery, and next thing we’re defending a maul on the five-metre line. We’ve got to be better in those aspects."
"We didn’t get a lot of opportunities near their goal-line. We’ve got to be better. They were very good in terms of taking their opportunities."
Munster 10-15 Toulouse
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) December 11, 2022
An hour gone at Thomond Park, where substitute Tauzin had an immediate impact to put Toulouse ahead again against Munster
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One game in and Munster already find themselves in must-win territory when they travel to Northampton Saints next Sunday.
The Premiership side were thumped 46-12 by defending champions La Rochelle in their opening fixture.
"We’ll just lick our wounds and see what we can do better," said Rowntree. "We’ve got a massive game next week now.
"The lads are honest. We’ll look at what we need to fix but I want us to be positive and keep building forward. Because we are building."
