A monumental rearguard action at the death saw Munster overcome Glasgow for the fourth time in as many games this season, with a 10-7 win at Irish Independent Park.
Don't let the scoreline deceive you; this was a hugely entertaining tussle between two sides who perhaps know each other too well at this stage of the season, and one which was ultimately decided by a Rory Scannell penalty which put Munster 10-0 up before Stuart Hogg replied for the visitors.
James Cronin's opener for Munster was the culmination of a colossal assault on the Glasgow line, with other such standout moments including stratospheric fielding from both Andrew Conway and Tom Seymour at the sold-out Cork arena, and explosive hits all round.
Perhaps the true highlight, however, arrived in the 67th minute, as Munster attacked with an advantage and the otherwise outstanding Jaco Taute flung the ball forward and into touch before any signal from Owens that the advantage was over. To be fair to the Welsh referee, given the time in possession and the inroads Munster could potentially have made had the ball gone to hand, the big Bok might have suspected the advantage had gone as he sought Ronan O'Mahony with a Hollywood pass.
At this moment, Munster captain Billy Holland - seemingly unaware that Owens had declared the advantage over, approached the referee and asked, "No advantage, Sir?"
Owens responded:
Advantage is over there, lads. It's poor play by you there on the pass. Under no pressure there.
Holland replied, albeit with a cheeky grin:
Cheers, coach!
[footage via TG4]
The TG4 commentators certainly enjoyed it. It takes a courageous man to test the razor-sharp wit of Mr. Owens, but Holland - clearly not too enamoured with Owens' frank assessment of Munster's play - must have been in a particularly daring mood. We're fairly sure we can hear a chuckle from Nigel, too.
It's worth pointing out, of course, that while it might seem at first listen as if Owens is blurring lines in his criticism of Taute's pass, his point about 'no pressure' was pertinent to his decision to end Munster's advantage: As opposed to making a cheeky observation, Owens was instead indicating that Taute had the opportunity to make more of possession but botched the pass completely of his own accord, i.e. had his forward pass been forced by Glasgow's defence, Owens might well have come back for a Munster scrum.
In any case, it was a wonderful moment, with Billy Holland once more proving that to the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible, and getting away with a cheeky dig at Owens' expense.
