Sale's Heineken Cup hopes were smashed to pieces as reigning champions Munster impressively dismissed Philippe Saint Andre's side with tries from O'Connell, Jerry Flannery, David Wallace, Ian Dowling, Tomas O'Leary and Paul Warwick.

Charlie Hodgson snaffled a try back for Sale early in the second half, closing the gap to 19-14 straight after Luke McAlister's second successful penalty.

But Munster, who are now five points clear at the top of Pool One, ran riot in the closing quarter to guarantee their place in the quarter-finals ahead of next week's trip to Montauban.

O'Connell said: "We just really wanted it. We put a lot of ourselves into it this week. There's been a lot of talk about Thomond Park in the last few weeks, a lot of opposing players talking about playing here.

"The crowd are fabulous here but they don't do anything for you on the pitch – you have to do that yourself. We filled the jersey well today."

O'Connell said Wallace's try, which the flanker dotted down after just 26 seconds of the second half, was crucial.

"Every team in the world goes in at half-time whether you are behind or ahead and the cliché is to make the first score - be it a three pointer, five pointer or a seven pointer. That first score is vital.

"I'm sure Sale were saying the same thing in their dressing room. Donncha (O'Callaghan) caught Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe with a good turnover and Wally (David Wallace) did what he's been doing all year then. That five points was massive."

Asked did Munster feel any pressure when Hodgson's try helped bring the Sharks back into contention, O'Connell replied: "I don't think we did – I think we threw away a good lead and we knew we needed to play down there.

"Attacking them was the best form of defence for us, playing down there putting them under pressure, making them defend and taking it out of their legs. Defending is the hardest thing on your fitness and that's what we did from that try."

Though Munster are through to the knockout stages, O'Connell insisted the mentality has to be right next weekend in Montauban as they look to secure a home draw in the last eight.

"We're going to have to pull together all this week and make sure the mentality is right. It's something we need to monitor with ourselves all the time and keep an eye on ourselves.

"It's very important for us that we're able to go over with the right mental attitude and produce another performance, especially after the highs of this week and last week against the Ospreys."