Munster tests All Blacks in Close 18-16 AB Win

Munster, the only Irish side to have beaten the All Blacks - 12-0 back in 1978, carried their mid-week game to a tight close with the ABs in a game that one sports journalist reported as "a nerve-wracking and precious". The All Blacks snatched a try in the last minutes to win the game as left wing Joe Rokocoko stepped inside his old team mate Doug Howlett, playing for Munster, and scored the winning try.

Reporting from Limerick for Fairfax Media, Duncan Johnstone declared:

"For sheer competitiveness, rivalry and intensity, this was the match of the tour so far.

It was retro rugby and it was wonderful - there were scuffles, words in the face of French referee Roman Poite, fallen bodies littering the field at times and a potent mix of passion and skills."

The All Blacks rested most of their top players in advance of the test with Ireland next weekend.