By securing the five points, Munster, currently sixth in the RaboDirect PRO12 table, also made sure Leinster did not reach the knock-out stages and will therefore not be defending their crown.
And while Penney believes that he would have come in for plenty of criticism had it been Munster missing out, he's convinced the future is bright for his side.
"What I've tried to explain is that we've seen a massive growth in some of the guys that haven't had a lot of exposure every week," he said.
"We're seeing this as a management group. You could say it has set the seed but it's still only germinating. We've only been at this for six months and we're really proud of where we're getting to.
"If we hadn't [qualified], obviously people would be in the long grass and there would be a lot of bullets being fired.
"I would still be very proud of the progress and the areas of growth that we're getting, but I would have had to put on the flak jacket and the hard hat probably (if we lost). I really believe in this team and the direction in which it is going."
63x46.png){kind=logo}