Munster robbed of Heineken final

The Heineken Cup has tried very hard during this fractured season of lunatic scheduling and unforeseen pestilence to give the impression of being rugby's Champions League.

It will have to try harder. It could start by making the video referee available for its games next season. A competition of its aspiring stature should be technologically up to pace. Had the great arbiter in the stand been on duty at Lille on Saturday, covering all the angles, Munster and John O'Neill would have been awarded a try which could well have turned another heartbreaking single-point semi-final defeat into victory. As it was, Steve Lander, who also as an out-of-touch judge made a crucial wrong decision at the end of the Tetley Bitter Cup Final, ruled against the Irish winger and in favour of Stade Francais. Another mistake, it appeared from action replays, as the French side went on to win 16-15.

'It's amazing that the video ref was not available at this level,' Donal Lenihan said as an Irishman first and the Lions manager second. Mick Galway, the Munster captain, was equally astounded to learn of its absence when imploring English referee Chris White to consult the fourth official. Galway said: 'I was looking around for the giant screen. 'You would have thought that a game like this would have had it. That decision was our only reason for sour grapes.' One problem for organisers was articulated by Stade Francais coach John Connolly. The Australian said: 'It costs a fortune. It has been very controversial for that reason in Australia where they introduced it for their domestic rugby.' While the equipment and manpower required would dig deep holes in the coffers, a decent stop watch could be had for around twenty quid. Either a reliable timing device or a reliable timer was lacking at the weekend as Christophe Dominici spent only eight of the prescribed 10 minutes in the sin-bin before returning to the field to help his French club defend their narrow lead throughout the tense closing stages. That, too, could have had a bearing on the outcome.

Perhaps Dominici received remission for pathetic behaviour as he forlornly stood on the touchline believing that a gratuitous, rather than dangerous, piece of stamping might cost Stade Francais a deserved win. Galway was angry and again in the referee's ear. 'I told him that I thought it had been a quick 10 minutes,' he said. That sounded a lot more Irish than it was considering that everyone in the press box thought Dominici two minutes light on his punishment.

There was a recognition from Connolly that his side would have to improve if Leicester are to be beaten in the final in Paris, where home advantage may be countered by the recently-acquired English habit of winning in the French capital.

Connolly said: 'I am happy for France. The French did not have a good Six Nations. We will represent our club, our city and our country.