Players hope for another boost from Red Army

Munster star Paul O’Connell is hoping the province’s Red Army can lift the side to another famous Heineken Cup victory in Montpellier today as a contingent of 7,000 supporters descend on the French city ahead of the semi-final clash with Clermont Auvergne, which kicks off at 5pm Irish time).

Munster fans turned a tough quarter-final at the Twickenham Stoop into a virtual home game three weeks ago when their heroes knocked out English champions Harlequins. The mood of the waves of supporters streaming out of airplanes in Montpellier yesterday and heading for the bars and restaurants of this city by the Mediterranean suggest they will be seen as well as heard in the 31,000-capacity Stade de la Mosson this evening.

“The fans have always played a big role for us,” O’Connell said yesterday. “Even today in the airport, guys were taken aback by the amount of travelling fans.