Munster has lost another of its finest

THE SAD passing of Munster stalwart Colm Tucker after his long battle with ill health has inspired great memories of the club rugby scene in Munster when the great Shannon wing forward was in his prime.

At his removal in Limerick on Friday night there were several greetings, handshakes, and nods of acknowledgments from former players drawn from a multitude of clubs who had the privilege of playing with or against Colm — on that front, I count myself extremely fortunate to have sampled both experiences.

I can assure you one was far more pleasurable than the other.

Tucker was one of those granite individuals who inspired confidence in every dressing room by his sheer presence. You felt an additional air of assurance having him on your side. Over a sustained period from 1977 to 1992 with UCC and Cork Con, I enjoyed many a battle against some great Shannon teams. Even in the days before the All Ireland League, when the Munster Senior Cup and League were massive prizes, if you wanted to crown your season with silverware, you somehow had to minimise the impact of Colm Tucker — not an easy task.

Colm was gifted with natural strength and athleticism. I loved playing with him and in the days when the battle for lineout possession was all about finding the space to get off the ground in the melee of elbows and shoulders, having Tucker stationed behind you in the lineout was a massive advantage. At least you were confident that no one on the opposition side would interfere with you from behind. If they did, it wouldn’t happen a second time.

When I made the breakthrough, initially with Munster and then Ireland, Colm was a constant companion. When Ireland won the Triple Crown and Five Nations Championship back in 1982, he was unable to break into the starting side because of the presence of that outstanding trio of John O’Driscoll, Willie Duggan and Fergus Slattery. Colm was on the bench on several occasions throughout that period but there were no such thing as impact subs in those days. You had to be near death before coming off injured. Despite his obvious disappointment, Colm was a constant source of help, advice and encouragement to me which proved invaluable when finding my feet at international level.

However, that camaraderie was put firmly to one side in those titanic forward battles at club level. For Shannon, his job was to make life as uncomfortable as possible for me in the lineout by attacking my back while Ginger McLoughlin was invariably placed in front of me to form a two pronged assault. Once in Thomond Park, when the twin tormentors were having a field day on the ground at my expense, I had to exact some retribution.

Given that Ginger was in front of me, he was the easier target and I managed to land a beauty on him. He milked it, of course, and I was severely reprimanded by the referee while Colm just winked at me with a smile as broad as his bulging chest with a clear understanding that the battle was swinging their way. To add insult to injury, Ned Van Esbeck of The Irish Times reprimanded me after the game, questioning why I did that to “poor Ginger”!

Colm was always great company off the field as I found out on many a Saturday night in Dublin as we prepared for yet another gruelling Sunday morning national training session on the back pitches of Lansdowne Road at the hands of Tommy Kiernan. The Shannon boys looked after themselves first and foremost, so it was a badge of honour to be accepted into their company. There was one Sunday morning grinder that finished with about 50 live scrums.

Ginger was the only member of the Triple Crown winning pack to be dropped when the team was announced that morning for the opening game of the 1983 championship against Scotland in Murrayfield.

Mick Fitzpatrick of Leinster was selected at tight head and the Shannon boys took it personally. In the scrummaging practice McLoughlin switched to loose head on the opposition in order to directly oppose Fitzpatrick with Brendan Foley positioned in the second row behind him and Tucker at wing forward on his other cheek. In one scrum, the Leinster man lost his footing, was mangled, and sustained a groin injury. Ginger was immediately reinstated, had a blinder when the Scots were dispatched in Edinburgh and held his place for the season culminating in a trip with the Lions to New Zealand that summer.

I remember a tour from hell when Munster travelled to Romania back in the communist Ceaucescu era in 1982. Ulster and Leinster had toured there previously and returned with shocking stories. In particular they moaned about the quality of the food with vomiting and diarrhoea regular side effects. At least we had been forewarned and Tucker gave a rousing speech about the necessity to stick together throughout the three-match tour and look after one another.

That was all fine until a few of us noticed how the large Shannon contingent would go missing for an hour every evening. Eventually we caught them red handed in Colm’s room. Noelie Glynn, the Shannon hooker, was a butcher and under instructions from Tucker had vacuum-packed a large quantity of cooked meat before leaving Ireland. At night the Shannon boys would share their booty while the rest of us were in the dark. All Tucker could do was break into fits of laughter when their scam was exposed. So much for his one-for-all speech.

There is no question that Colm would have fitted seamlessly into the professional game where his power, strength in the tackle and bustling ball carrying ability would excel. When I see Ireland handing out caps to vastly under-strength teams — as they did in the USA during the Lions tour of 2009 — you just wonder what the likes of Tucker endured to secure his cherished three caps. At least his talents were rewarded with Lions recognition and I remember listening for hours as he recalled stories of their trip to South Africa in 1980. Even allowing for that famous win over New Zealand with Munster in 1978, you knew it was his proudest rugby achievement when he played in the third and fourth tests in that series. That’s what made it even more poignant to see him laid out in his Lions blazer on Friday.

I find it hard to rationalise how the two most naturally strong Munster forwards I was honoured to play with in Colm and Moss Keane have both been called to their maker at such a premature stage in their colourful lives. Moss left a huge void with his untimely passing only 17 months ago and Colm’s passing will leave a similar vacuum.

I extend my sincere sympathies to his wife Ger, daughter Rachel, son Colm Junior and his extended family.