'That first half wasn't a Munster performance' - Calvin Nash not using altitude excuse

Munster's Calvin Nash says they will not be using the heat and altitude of the Highveld as an excuse for their first-half performance in Saturday's 29-24 defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria.

Johann van Graan's side produced a stirring second-half comeback to claim a losing bonus point in their first United Rugby Championship visit to Loftus Versfeld.

However, they looked miles off the pace in the opening half as they conceded two tries and multiple scoring penalties, trailing 29-3 in the early stages of the second half.

And while they were dealing with temperatures pushing 30C, and altitude of 1,350m in Pretoria, wing Calvin Nash says they should never have allowed the Bulls to build such a lead, admitting the hosts caught them "by surprise".

"It was tough, we had obviously been training during the week and got a good burn in the lungs," the 24-year-old said, ahead of this Saturday's visit to the Lions in Johannesburg.

"That helped a good bit, but I think we were very disappointed with our first half. The Bulls caught us by surprise, they were very dominant and we didn't front up as well as we wanted to.

"The heat and altitude obviously was still a shock, you can't train for how a game will be, but we were disappointed with the first half, very disappointed."

Surprisingly, it was Munster who grew stronger as the game progressed, with tries for Alex Kendellen, Damian de Allende and Jack O'Donoghue clawing them back within one score, and securing a losing bonus point.

And while Nash (above) says they take pride in their fightback, he admits their first-half display was not acceptable.

"I think it was that we became more dominant, the coaches' messages were fairly clear and we were all pretty much in-sync, and we knew we just needed to