Ian Costello hailed Munster's composure as they held off Saracens in an old-school arm-wrestle at Thomond Park.
The province were 17-12 winners in a scrappy but crucial Investec Champions Cup win over the Premiership side, which leaves them within reach of a home tie in the last 16 of the competition.
Fourteen of Munster’s 17-point haul came in a five-minute spell around the hour mark, as Dian Bleuler and John Hodnett both crossed for tries, converted by Jack Crowley who had earlier laded a penalty.
For much of the first hour, it had been an error-strewn display by the home side, who struggled with their handling, and their opponents’ kicking game.
But Costello was thrilled at how his side never panicked, as they secured their second win from three in the pool.
"We went 6-0 down, we were disappointed with two poor penalties, but the lads stayed really calm," the Munster interim coach said.
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"I think we stayed really true to what we said we would do, and at times we have gone a little bit away from that at key moments under pressure.
"I thought we were unlucky in the first half not to score that maul up in the top left, we probably felt like we deserved that but we came in 6-3 down, and everyone was really calm at half-time.
"We focused on two things: outworking them and having to win the physical battle, and we set ourselves up to do that. Everything we did for the last 10 days has been about that challenge, and we made sure that lads were incredibly fresh, and we had huge energy from the bench to really finish strong. I thought that paid off tonight."
The Munster coach was particularly pleased with his side’s defensive efforts, which held Saracens tryless, Alex Lozowski kicking all 12 of their points through penalties.
And Costello believes their win was built on that defensive platform.
"I felt if they went beyond seven [point lead] it would have been difficult, and that was key, at 6-0 and 9-3 we had a couple of massive defensive sets.
"We didn't concede a try tonight and probably only once they looked like scoring which was pleasing.
"At half time we took a lot of reassurance in that, and everything was about freshness. We set ourselves up in the last 10 days to be fresh for the type pf battle that it was, and that probably came through in the end."
Munster captain Tadhg Beirne was player of the match, and he echoed his coach’s praise of the defence.
"Defensively we've been working hard on getting better there and I think we've seen that today," he said.
"I think the conditions probably played into the defence both sides of the ball though in fairness, slippy ball and it just it allows teams to tighten up a little bit defensively and get off the line a bit more and I think you've seen that both sides of the ball."
The victory leaves Munster’s Pool 3 delicately poised, with just a point separating leaders Northampton Saints from Munster and Saracens.
Munster visit the Saints next weekend where a win would give them home advantage in the Round of 16, and Beirne says this evening’s win has restored a lot of confidence following the Christmas defeat to Leinster.
"I think it's been a tough couple of weeks at times, the performances from the outside may not look like they've been the best, but in terms of what we said we were going to do and the opportunities we were creating, we knew we were actually doing well.
"We just had to stick with it and we were on the right side of one today thankfully, and hopefully we'll do it again next week," he added.
Listen to live commentary of La Rochelle v Leinster on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport, and follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
