Congratulations Munster - A victory for timeless values

MUNSTER made a wonderful contribution to the ongoing task the French set themselves when they began their revolution in 1789, by winning their second Heineken European Cup in Cardiff on Saturday.

To realise their dreams Munster had to do what those revolutionaries of more than two centuries ago did: confront and defeat the aristocrats of Europe.

Toulouse are one of a handful of teams entitled to claim to be European sporting aristocracy but Saturday’s Reign of Terror, led so splendidly by the not-an-inch, toe-to-toe Munster forwards, confirmed the arrival of a new order. The aristocrats had to make room for a team determined not to be denied at the last hurdle for a third time.

By the end Toulouse must have been grateful that yet another Alan Quinlan or Paul O’Connell tackle was as close as they were going to get to Madam Guillotine, but the affect was nonetheless the same — a last call for the aristocrats of France.

It is easy to get swept away by the deep-red emotion but that may not be a bad thing as it shows that the values brought to life by Munster still mean a lot, that they still have a powerful impact in our psych.

Commitment, honesty, courage, endeavour, loyalty through adversity, pride of place, determination, community, selflessness and a considerable application of wit and guile, are sometimes dismissed as the values of another age but Munster again proved that those values will withstand any revolution, be it French or social.

The values that have shaped Munster are the very values that Brian Cowen celebrated to mark the changing of the political guard and if he applies them as effectively as Munster it would be another great day for our country. If he has any doubt about the appetite for such values he need only look at the unity of purpose they brought to Saturday’s great events.