Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall admitted his side were "well below their best" as they were beaten 15-9 by Munster in the Heineken Cup.

The match became a battle of the boots as Ronan O'Gara kicked five out five penalties for the hosts while Owen Farrell was less precise, missing four out of his seven efforts.

McCall though lamented his team's display and is looking for a better performance for the return fixture next weekend. 

“We were well below our best tonight. It was a disappointing performance, overall,” said the Sarries boss.

“We got off to a poor start and Munster were obviously very motivated. We lost a couple of set-pieces during that time. It gave them a lot of momentum.

“It was a frustrating kind of game because when we did have possession they were quite happy to give penalties away.

“The penalty count was huge against them. It was some consolation that we got a bonus point at the end.

“Your fundamentals and your foundations have to be good to come to a place like this. When one part of your set-piece doesn’t function that well it is difficult to have the foundations right."

The two sides are now level at the top of Pool One on ten points each with the crucial second fixture to come.

McCall said: “It is not often in sport that you get a chance to rectify what’s gone wrong a week later against the same opposition. That is the beauty of these back-to-back matches.

“We are confident we can play a lot better than we did tonight and we will need to. We have a lot of respect for Munster.”