Irish Examiner view: A Munster man

 Jerry Holland, right, with former Ireland team manager Donal Lenihan.

At first glance Jerry Holland was an unlikely pathfinder for a peaceful tribe, but the genial Cork native, who passed away earlier this week, was the advance man scouting locations which became familiar to thousands of Irish people.

From Bordeaux to San Sebastian and across to Toulouse and Paris, Holland’s were the first boots on the ground as Munster and its loyal army of followers roamed Europe. As team manager, Holland’s coat buttoned up over a wide range of responsibilities, from providing baked beans to Irish players wary of French cuisine to ensuring that enormous second rows didn’t have to fold themselves into a hotel bed fit for a Peter Stringer.