Munster's captain said backing up high-level performances had been discussed by the team shortly after the full-time whistle blew last Saturday evening. "We said it in the dressing-room after the game, it's all well and good and we could have a beer and enjoy it but we have to back it up in seven days," Beirne said. "We don't want just one, we want three more games. This will go down as one of the great ones but it won't really matter to us if we don't put in a good performance next week." Munster will be hoping to ride the crest of momentum they have created for themselves in the last two weeks. The reintegration of the province’s Ireland internationals, including Beirne, following their post-Six Nations breaks, and returns from injury for frontliners Thaakir Abrahams, Craig Casey, Jean Kleyn and Oli Jager have contributed to victories on the road at Connacht in the URC and in Europe. Confidence will be sky high when the squad travels to Bordeaux this Friday, not least with the knowledge that Munster have saved their best rugby for the tail ends of the last two seasons. When that was put to Beirne on Saturday night, he said: "We've been having meetings the last few weeks, that's what we've said. At this time of year, we tend to put in performances and we have to keep building on that. "It's something we can take confidence out of the last few years, hopefully we'll do that but we'll have to double that performance if it is Bordeaux who win against Ulster." While Munster’s inability to keep 15 players on the field for the entire 80 minutes continued in La Rochelle, with yellow cards for try scorer Andrew Smith and replacement back rower Alex Kendellen, on 10 and 65 minutes respectively, countering sin-binnings for the home side's Ihaia West and Dillyn Leyds, there was plenty to like about the performance. The captain was clear it was Munster’s defence that saw his team over the line. They did concede two tries in a dramatic final quarter in which a contested maul collapse led to Kendellen's card and a penalty try, Jack Crowley responded with a brilliant drop goal and then La Rochelle made it a one-point game with a try from wing Hoani Bosmorin on 76 minutes. There was also a massive let-off earlier in the second half from La Rochelle centre Teddy Thomas, the scourge of Munster in their last visit to Chaban-Delmas when Racing 92 cost Johann van Graan's side a place in the 2019 final. In a La Rochelle jersey, Thomas's break down the right wing should have led to a home try after just 58 seconds but the TMO saw a foot in touch, under pressure from an Abrahams tackle, before his final pass inside to West. Then the former France International was handed a gilt-edged opportunity to score in the second half when the ball reached him unmarked on the left with an acre of space in which to score and only prop Oli Jager to outpace to reach the corner. Inexplicably he decided to carry back against the grain and straight into traffic, centre Tom Farrell making the crucial tackle. Regardless, there were defensive heroics, with Beirne's turnover repelling La Rochelle one last time to end the game. "We had to be physical and I thought we matched them physically. "I said we needed a big 20 minutes and it was a tough 20 minutes, believe me, but we managed to stick in there. We got a wee bit lucky in terms of the first try and (Thomas) being in touch. "But we dealt with their purple patch and handled the second part of the first half very well and we were unlucky not to get a few more points. "The management from Jack and everyone out there was really good, the physicality and our defence were great. "The last four minutes were crazy, to be honest, they were coming from every direction. "They're huge, that's the game, we said breakdowns would be an opportunity. Calvin (Nash) got two breakdowns, Smithy got a turnover from them, there was opportunities for us to get on the ball towards the end and thankfully we were able to get turnovers that saw us through." That more than 3000 Munster supporters had made their way to western France to see the drama unfold was not lost on the players and Beirne said: "Coming off the bus was goosebumps stuff, I couldn't see any La Rochelle fans at all... it was all Munster. "They said 2,000 were coming, but it looked like four times that. It was phenomenal, a sea of red out there, and that's what this competition means for this club. "Seeing that passion, the red in the crowd and the noise... it just lifts you a little bit extra."