The Ospreys, who lost their place at the top of the Magners League last night after slipping to their first home defeat of the season, remain locked in talks with Scott Johnson after offering the Australian, who is in charge of the United States, £250,000-a-year to take over as head coach. The region have consistently refused to comment on the position but Johnson is understood to have agreed a deal to combine the two roles.
The Ospreys have been looking for a head coach since last April. They have drawn up an exhaustive list of criteria the new man must fulfil, but Johnson, who spent five years with Wales earlier this decade, has played the role of assistant for most of his career.
And it is not as if the Ospreys have fared badly in the interregnum of Sean Holley and Jonathan Humphreys. They started the new year at the head of the Magners League, they are in the semi-final of the EDF Energy Trophy and they are well placed in their Heineken Cup pool.
Yet the Ospreys, for all their success in the opening half of the season, struggle to attract spectators. The two ends of the ground were empty yesterday with the region again failing to attract a five-figure audience, even though it was a clash between the top two. The atmosphere throughout was muted.
Munster, who had lost their previous matches against Ulster and Connacht, took the lead inside three minutes with a try by the centre Lifeimi Mafi after his midfield partner Barry Murphy had pierced the defence, but unfortunately it did not set the tone for a match that quickly became stifled by the constant intervention of the referee.
Penalties abounded. James Hook kicked seven but missed an eighth from virtually in front of the posts while Munster's three kickers succeeded with five out of seven. Ronan O'Gara's replacement at stand-off, Paul Warwick, failed to last the first half after receiving a blow to the face.
Shane Williams returned on the wing for the Ospreys but he need not have bothered. He hardly touched the ball in a match of more than 30 penalties which saw a player from each side sent to the sin-bin in the second half. Munster led 11-9 at the break but trailed for a long period after it, before Mafi created a try for Tomas O'Leary to put the province back on the top after their first league victory here.
Ospreys Byrne; Vaughton, Parker (Biggar, 45), A Bishop, S Williams; Hook, Phillips; James (capt), Hibbard (Bennett, 55), Griffiths, AW Jones, Thomas (Bateman, 71), Smith, Tandy (Holah, 76), Tiatia.
Pens Hook 7. Sin-bin Tandy, 61
Munster: Hurley; Howlett, Murphy, Mafi, Dowling; Warwick (Doyle, 37; Stringer, 71), O'Leary (Stringer, 71); Pucciarello (Ryan, 73), Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Quinlan, Wallace, Leamy (Sullivan, 55).
Tries Mafi, O'Leary. Pens Warwick 2, Doyle 2, O'Leary.
Sin-bin Dowling, 55
Referee A Macpherson (Scotland). Attendance 9,003.
