Racing Metro skipper Jacques Cronje believes his side have learned the lessons of their narrow defeats in last season's Heineken Cup and have emerged as a more persistent side.
Last season the French side were beaten 26-20 in their opening game in Paris by Cardiff Blues and then went down 48-47 at Murrayfield against eventual semi-finalists Edinburgh in one of the most thrilling Pool matches in the tournament's history.
They then lost by three points in the return game to Edinburgh and by six points in Cardiff, picking up four losing bonus points in five Pool defeats.
So, when Munster went 17-16 ahead in the second half of their opening Pool 1 game of this season's European campaign at Stade de France last weekend there were those who thought it was going to be the same old story.
But South African back row man Cronje had other ideas and heralded his side's 22-17 triumph as "a victory for persistence".
"It was about never giving up and having belief, even when we conceded that try in the closing stages. It was really important for us to get a good start because last year we lost narrowly to Cardiff Blues in our first game and that pretty much finished us off," said Cronje.
"I suppose that if Munster had scored though Paul O'Connell in the first half then it could have been a different game. The fact they didn't score, and that we got a score quickly afterwards, put a different perspective on the match.
"It brought us back into it. We had to cope with a lot of pressure at times in the first-half and perhaps we were a bit fortunate to be leading at half-time. However, games are often won and lost on small issues and at this level, and in difficult conditions, you've got to take every chance that you get."
Now Cronje is hoping his side can take the same dogged approach into their next assignment, against Saracens in Brussels this weekend. Whoever emerges with victory from that game will have early control of Pool 1.
Saracens beat Edinburgh 45-0 at Murrayfield and opted to take their opening home game of the Pool 'on the road' to Belgium.
ERC Rugby
