Donal Lenihan: Sunday represents Munster’s greatest ever challenge in Europe
Patrick Campbell has been drafted into the Munster squad for the Champions Cup having only played for the development XV and AIL rugby since his days in PBC. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Munster have pulled off some remarkable feats, fashioned against the odds in a variety of famous rugby citadels around Europe over the course of 183 Heineken Champions Cup games since a first encounter against Swansea in Limerick back in 1995.
Hardened followers have their favourite moments dating back to pool wins over a Saracens side led by Springbok World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar, followed by a first-ever semi-final success over Toulouse in Bordeaux in that groundbreaking 1999/00 season. Those remarkable wins set the ball rolling and instilled a new level of belief that propelled Munster on an epic journey culminating in the a pair of Heineken Cup triumphs in 2006 and 2008.
