Ronan O'Gara delivered a brutally honest assessment of Munster's first round defeat at the hands of London Irish and warned teams not to write off the two-times champions just yet.
The 100-cap Irish outside half gave his side a life-line with a brilliant grubber kick in the final minute of the thrilling game at the Madejski Stadium that paved the way for Sam Tuitupou to grab the try that earned Munster a vital losing bonus point.
That left the final scoreline as a 23-17 win to the English Premiership leaders, but at least gave the Magners League table-toppers with something to take to Thomond Park next weekend when they face Toulon.
"Every point will be crucial and we are fighting and clinging on. The good thing about Munster is we fight to the end and we showed that today," said O'Gara.
"We didn't deserve to win and we are disappointed in some aspects of our game. Our discipline was a major issue in the first 40 minutes and you can't afford to have a player in the sin-bin at this level.
"We weren't accurate enough and at 15-3 down it was a lot of ground to give to a quality team."
London Irish beat the then reigning champions Leinster in their first game last season in Dublin, but failed to get out of their Pool. Munster began with an away defeat at Norhtampton Saints and went on to reach the semi-finals.
They earned a bonus point with a 68th minute try at Franklin's Gardens and also picked up an away point when they lost to London Wasps at the start of the 2007/08 campaign. That season they went on to win the title for the second time.
"We've won this competition twice in the past five years, so we know we are going to get knocked at times. Some people call us an ageing team, but we are also an evolving side," added O'Gara.
"But they can say whatever they like about us - we still want to win the Heineken Cup. To do that, though, we have to be more accurate and ruthless."
