ALAN Quinlan had mixed feelings following Munster’s narrow defeat by a point to Wasps in the Heineken Cup.

He was naturally very disappointed that Munster lost the game, but his ‘man of the match’ award will have given the Shannon man a good deal of personal satisfaction.

Quinnie gave an outstanding performance and I wonder will Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan have second thoughts about including the number 6 in the Irish side for the Internationals to come.

Since the game has gone professional, players in their 30s have time to keep themselves fit and can still compete with the younger lads.

Shaun Payne, at 35, is playing as well as ever and he scored a great try last Saturday.

Quinine is an aggressive and hard player and he won his personal duel with Laurence Dallaglio. He is also a very useful line-out operator.

Four years ago, the flanker scored a try against Argentina that put Ireland into the quarterfinals of the World Cup but he couldn’t even make the bench in France.

He injured his shoulder in that match, and that injury kept him out of the game for a few months.

Two years ago he was having an outstanding match against Sale but injury again struck and he was sidelined for a considerable time, only returning at the end of the season as a replacement in the Heineken Cup final.

Quinnie is back to his best and Munster need players of his quality for the big games to come.

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