Munster Head Coach Graham Rowntree was full of praise for his charges after they came from behind on no less than four occasions to pip deadly rivals Connachst at Thomond Park on Saturday.
It was a thrilling contest to witness with 10 tries shared by two fully committed teams in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Ultimately it was Shane Daly's try, converted by Tony Butler on 70 minutes, which saw the homesters snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The hosts were 12-0 down after 15 minutes and still trailing 19-14 at half time. True, they managed to score the first try of the second half, but tries by David Hawkshaw and Cathal Forde kept the men in green ahead and looked good for a victory as they led 33-28 going down the final straight.
However there was still drama aplenty, none topping when Daly dived over in the corner, and young Butler showed nerves of steel to convert from the touchline to win the game for the Munster men.
"We had to win that," Rowntree declared after the game. "The resolve we showed to stick in that game... Crikey, they [Connacht] were good. I just said to Pete [Wilkins, Connacht head coach] there, how physical they were in their carry, their ruck, their shapes in attack out the back and they get to the edge of the field. Crikey, they were good. We had to be good then.
"Look at the tries they scored early on, Craig Casey getting done off the side of the scrum, you don't see that very often. But relief, I'm chuffed with how we stuck in the game."
"Very much mixed feelings," Connacht’s Wilkins told RTÉ Sport at Thomond Park afterwards.
"Huge disappointment because I thought we put ourselves in a position to win the game and get what would have been a famous result for us, as well as getting ourselves off to a flier.
"At the same time, to have not taken that and to see the lead slip away is particularly difficult.
"I think over the next 48 hours we'll reflect, five tries, two competition points, and a really, really promising performance. I think we'll see the positives of that and it's important we build on it next week against the Sharks."
Edinburgh 31; Leinster 33
Phew! That was another close encounter of the rugby kind as Leinster eventually got the better of a stubborn Edinburgh outfit to begin their United Rugby Championship season with a bonus-point 33-31 win at Hive Stadium.
This was another match which served up no less than 10 tries with Leinster scores from Jordan Larmour, Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Conan in the space of 10 minutes in the third quarter proving crucial, as it saw the traveling party swing from being 19-12 in arrears to 33-19 in front.
Leinster arrived with a weakened squad in the Scottish capital as several Ireland internationals, including Caelan Doris, Josh Van Der Flier and Robbie Henshaw were unfit for action.
Tommy O'Brien got in on the left after 16 mins for a Leinster try which Sam Prendergast failed to convert. Charlie Tector then took advantage of a poor box-kick from Ali Price to touch down with Prendergast converting this time around.
After responding to tie the game 12-12 at the break, Edinburgh took the lead in the 43rd minute when Dave Cherry dotted down with Ross Thompson converting.
Leinster then hit their purple patch with the lively Larmour taking advantage of a great pass from Prendergast to score with the latter converting once more.
Follow up tries from Gibson-Park and Conan in the 53rd and 57th minutes, put them into what looked like an unassailable 33-19 lead but Duhan Van Der Merwe reduced the deficit with his second try of the evening with four minutes to go. Fortunately for the visitors Ben Healy missed the conversion - a costly error as Matt Scott scored with the last move of the game with Healy converting to secure the hosts a losing bonus point.
Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Charlie Tector, Jordan Larmour; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Michael Milne, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Conor O'Tighearnaigh, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (capt) Replacements: John McKee, Cian Healy, Rabah Slimani, Brian Deeny, James Culhane, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Rob Russell.
