Munster head coach Clayton McMillan says the goal at this stage of the season is to "keep your nose in front" after a battling, albeit comfortable 26-10 bonus-point victory over the Ospreys.
Shane Daly, Lee Barron and Jack Crowley all crossed for first-half scores in Bridgend before Mike Haley's effort wrapped up the five league points, which saw the province reclaim second spot in the URC standings.
It was, though, an at times clunky performance. Munster's attack lacked some of the fluidity which has been on display this season. Errors and discipline both presented issues while the team often found themselves called into defensive action, Ospreys dominating the ball for much of the contest.
"I’ve been speaking to lots of media people who have questioned how we have been winning but it’s not been pretty," said McMillan. "That’s not overly concerning to me, there’s a long way to go in the season, plenty of growth in our side.
"When you look across the competition, everyone’s in a similar boat. Teams have good days at the office, others where they look scratchy but just get across the line, that’s the stage of the season we’re at. It’s cold, wet, windy, everyone’s fighting for points. Just try keep your nose in front.
"The Ospreys are a team that are fighting for everything at the moment, including their existence. That makes them dangerous, coming off the back of a couple of wins, that would put wind in their sails. I thought they were tenacious, they fought for everything. They didn’t give us anything for free. We’re happy to travel over here and go away with a bonus-point win."
It took Munster 17 minutes to open their account on the night, a series of back-to-back penalties allowing Ospreys early access to their 22. While the hosts didn’t have the attacking quality to make them pay, one of the infringements did allow Dan Edwards to open the scoring from the tee.
In the second half, after Haley’s intervention built up a 23-point lead, Ospreys once again were given access to Munster territory via penalties. When Morgan Morris scored from close range playing with advantage, Jack O’Donoghue still saw yellow after being caught offside.
McMillan was pleased with how the Ospreys found it difficult to score once inside the 22, but not with the ease with which they were given the territory. "What put us under the most pressure was our ill-discipline," he said.
"In the first half, we gave away way too many penalties. On another day, that’s going to hurt you. Something we have to look at.
"I think that’s a trait that has been in Munster, I believe, forever and a day; we’ll fight for everything and hopefully make life tough for the opposition. We don’t want to be an easy team to score against.
"There have been examples of the good behaviour and that’s cool, but also we've got to have less situations that put us in a position where you need to be desperate. Be urgent and accurate before you need to be desperate.
"A few times we’ve been desperate because of some poor actions that have put us in that position."
On the other side of the ball, Munster’s attack failed to click consistently despite the four scores. In the first half, Shane Daly had a number of promising carries out wide, while a handful of kicks in behind asked questions - not least when Daly was tripped by Max Nagy, the penalty and yellow card leading to the game’s first score.
However, after making ground initially, Munster would often look to go wide again without first building momentum close to the ruck. Ospreys swarmed on multiple occasions on Munster runners behind the gainline, centres Tom Farrell and Alex Nankivell often carrying under pressure.
A number of sloppy handling moments ensued while under duress, Munster conceding 13 turnovers on the night, the majority of which coming from being too lateral in attack.
"100%," agreed McMillan. "We talked about it at half-time. We’re getting a decent carry off an edge and then perhaps looking to go out the back, getting a bit lateral and we’re easy to pick off.
"We wanted to get a bit more direct in the second half. We had some moments where we did that well but the game is stop-starty, neither team got into that flow."
In terms of next week’s festive interpro with Leinster at Thomond Park, McMillan said his Ireland contingent are in contention. During this current block of games before international players go into Six Nations camp, the likes of Tadhg Beirne, Jack Crowley and Craig Casey can only play so often. All three players have featured in three of Munster’s four games post the November window. Beirne and Casey sat out in Bridgend, Crowley likely available as a result of missing the Bath game in the Champions Cup through injury.
"All of those players, they can’t play six games in a row," said McMillan. "They have to sit out a number of games. I think we’re at game four now, [they’re] still a contender [for Leinster]."
