O'Gara sinks Saints

Ronan O'Gara
12 April 2012

Ronan O'Gara rescued a miraculous win from the jaws of defeat as his injury-time drop goal gave Munster a thrilling 23-21 victory over Northampton at Thomond Park.

Trailing 21-20, Munster went back and forth through a mammoth 41 phases as they tried to get the tournament's record points scorer into drop-goal range.

Saints kept their discipline and defended manfully but O'Gara showed his mettle with a superb long-range strike that cruelly denied the visitors a famous Heineken Cup victory on Limerick soil. Damien Varley and Doug Howlett got Munster's other tries with Chris Ashton and James Downey going over for Northampton.

Defending champions Leinster salvaged a dramatic 16-16 draw in a thrilling Heineken Cup opener against fired-up newcomers Montpellier.

Montpellier captain Fulgence Ouedraogo finished off a breakaway try midway through the first period at the Stade de la Mosson as the hosts led 13-6 at the break. Francois Trinh-Duc extended Montpellier's lead early in the second half but in the final quarter Leinster finally began to wear down their opponents.

Sean Cronin barrelled over in the right corner with 14 minutes remaining, but despite Jonathan Sexton's successful conversion it looked like Leinster would have to make do with a losing bonus point. However, right at the death referee Dave Pearson awarded the visitors a penalty and Sexton brilliantly held his nerve amid a cacophony of boos to grab a share of the spoils.

Edinburgh came from behind to earn a deserved 20-19 victory over London Irish at the Madejski Stadium, while Leicester kicked off their campaign with a well-earned 28-12 victory over Aironi but failed to secure what could be a crucial bonus point.

Tom Croft and Alesana Tuilagi crossed for tries in the first half but Leicester took their foot off the gas following the interval and it was not until the 80th minute that Niall Morris crossed for their third. Toby Flood also booted 13 points for the Tigers, while Luciano Orquera kicked four penalties for Aironi.

Dan Biggar delivered an immaculate goal-kicking display as the Ospreys launched their campaign with a 28-21 victory over French heavyweights Biarritz.

The Scarlets got their Pool One campaign off to an impressive start with a hard-fought 31-23 victory over Castres at Parc y Scarlets, while Ulster also made the perfect start with a battling 16-11 win over Clermont-Auvergne in a pulsating Pool Four encounter at Ravenhill.

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