The ne'er sayers have been warning of a day like this for Munster, and by the law of averages they had to be right eventually, but certainly everything seemed to conspire against Declan Kidney and his team on Saturday. Having surrendered the last topflight unbeaten record overall this season in Europe (the only others, Agen, also going adrift over the weekend) after nine games, in what constituted only their third defeat in 25 matches, even Kidney himself subscribed to the theory.
"A day like this was always going to happen to us," he said. "But my over-riding feeling is that we've won eight out of nine competitive games since the start of the season, we've played Bath twice and haven't conceded a try. I'm not going to be naive enough to say we didn't mistakes, we certainly did. But in the same way we didn't shout from the rooftops any time we won a match I'm not going to panic because we lost one."
Putting Kidney's phlegmatic approach in perspective, the grim post-match mood outside the dressing-room was accentuated by news of the sudden death of Alan Quinlan's uncle amid sadly emotional scenes.
The cancellation of three ferries carrying a sizeable chunk of the 1300 supporters diluted the vocal red army at the Recreation Ground in what remains a traditionally imposing venue for visiting teams.
The most damaging blow of all was Ronan O'Gara's normally reliable radar going completely off beam. This had been coming. A slight case of the yips, he'll sort it out with some psychological readjusting. But we'll never know how differently things might have panned out had he landed the couple of kickable penalties he drifted wide which otherwise would have kept Munster at level-pegging up until first-half injury time.
Even Munster's famous sangfroid must have been affected by the `nil' part of the 9-0 interval scoreline, all the more so as Mick Galwey had hobbled off to be replaced by Mick O'Driscoll, with Peter Clohessy taking over the captaincy. By contrast, Bath's players were comforted in the knowledge that Mike Catt and then Jon Preston would reward sustained pressure and any shot at goal with a three-pointer.
And then there was the line-out. In what was an example of advance homework well done (losers benefit more than winners from the first of back-to-back meetings) by John Hall and Co, Steve Borthwick underlined his big reputation in this area by wreaking unprecedented carnage on Frankie Sheahan's throw.
Munster couldn't complain about the fair-minded way Nigel Whitehouse refereed the scrums, but as is so often the lot of away teams in this competition, they'll feel rightly aggrieved about plenty else. There was a torrent of penalties against them at the breakdown, where by comparison Bath were allowed gross liberties.
Then came the even more predictable torrent of penalties against Bath with the home side two scores out of reach. Predictably, though, it was never accompanied by a yellow card or a penalty try, yet Whitehouse had been comparatively ruthless for just one perceived deliberate offside against Peter Clohessy.
When all that is said and done, however, Bath were good, damned good in many ways. Adapting their strategy to the sodden conditions, competing fiercely in the tackle, they needed few frills or thrills to avenge the previous week's defeat.
Bath's outstanding kick-and-chase game kept Munster under constant pressure and their tackling was ferocious. And, crucially, with Mike Catt back, the orchestra had a conductor. Significantly, Bath's response to David Wallace's post-interval try was to up the physical ante with their tackling to successfully stymie the attempted comeback. With their late refusal to concede a consolation try, Bath proudly completed their statement of intent on the day.
There were arguments for more use of the Munster replacements. Kidney is more conservative about this than, say, Matt Williams, but then again many of their famous get-out-of-jail cards have been played by the same 15 who started, such as the win in Castres.
There were some plusses, most notably the all-action display of David Wallace. Ronan O'Gara compounded his missed kicks by missing a penalty to touch and under-cooking a restart, yet much of his running and passing game was good, while Mike Mullins had another good game, and long since seems to have ironed out his defensive flaws.
Ultimately it could actually have been worse, for in the heel of the hunt, should Munster and Bath finish level on points, Munster will be ranked above Saturday's opponents. Indeed, watching Bath reject a line-out cum try option with the game virtually won, one wondered if some clubs fully understand the rules. Tries scored in the two meetings between the sides will determine their final ranking if they finish level on points, the next criteria being points difference in the two matches. Hello?
Furthermore, Castres beating Newport was favourable news for Munster and left them still two points clear at the top of Pool Three. Hence, if Munster beat Newport at Rodney Parade on January 13th, they will have ensured themselves of first spot and a place in the quarter-finals. Even if they lost in Newport, but retained their 3-2 advantage in tries over the Welsh outfit from the first meeting, and then beat Castres at home in their final game, Munster would be assured of winning the pool.
Scoring sequence: 3 mins: Perry pen, 3-0; 14 mins: Perry pen, 6-0; 40 mins: Preston pen, 9-0; (half-time 9-0); 43 mins: Wallace try, 9-5; 49 mins: Preston pen, 12-5; 54 mins: Preston pen, 15-5; 58 mins: Preston pen 18-5.
BATH: M Perry; I Balshaw, P de Glanville, M Tyndall, K Maggs; M Catt, G Cooper; S Emms, M Regan, C Horsman, M Haag, S Borthwick, A Gardiner, D Lyle, B Clarke. Replacements: J Preston for Cooper (39 mins), G Thomas for Gardiner (halftime), J Mallett for Horsman (63 mins).
MUNSTER: D Crotty; J Kelly, M Mullins, J Langford, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; P Clohessy, F Sheahan, J Hayes, M Galwey (capt), J Langford, A Quinlan, A Foley, D Wallace. Replacements: M Horan for Wallace (64-68 mins), K keane for Kelly (74 mins), C McMahon for Wallace (82 mins).
Referee: N Whitehouse (Wales).
