Mighty Munster - Players and fans make history

THE extraordinary welcoming scenes in Limerick yesterday as the Munster team returned with the Heineken Cup were like a modern re-enactment of Moses parting the Red Sea.

Words like awesome, breathtaking, fabulous, fantastic, incredible, inspiring, magnificent and unforgettable all spring to mind.

The determination and the inspiration of the team on Saturday were matched only by the enthusiasm of their supporters, who added so much to the occasion in the emotional cauldron of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Occasions on which sporting achievements capture the imagination of a whole nation are rare, but we witnessed such an occasion last Saturday.

Munster had come close winning the Heineken Cup twice before, only to have the cup snatched from their lips. Saturday’s final started with a dubious try for Biarritz, and many Munster supporters must have had a haunting sense of history repeating itself. Those earlier defeats made the ultimate victory all the more welcome, especially as there was no doubt that Munster won on merit.

Biarritz has been credited with having more talented players, but Munster combined better as a team. The unbridled enthusiasm of their supporters lifted the players and may well have made the difference between victory and another defeat.

The reaction of the players and officials after the game seemed somewhat sombre. There was no triumphalism, but the sense of relief, was palpable — not just that they had survived the final hectic minutes but they had succeeded after more than half a decade and achieved the victory that was denied to a number of their illustrious colleagues over those years.

Those former team-mates were not on the field, but they were clearly in minds of players after the game as they tried to come to grips with the their emotions. The team was an inspiration to its supporters, and the supporters were a credit to team, their province and to the whole nation.