Duncan Casey: When you can hear voices on the pitch amid 35,000, something is wrong

The electricity and tension that can permeate every crevice of the Páirc on big days was missing on Saturday.

LET-DOWN: Sometimes everything is teed up to deliver a big occasion but it doesn’t quite pan out that way and Saturday at Páirc Uí Chaoimh for Munster v Gloucester was one of those evenings. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

My father Pat has been going to Páirc Uí Chaoimh since 1954. I started joining him around 30 years ago. Together we have witnessed many a special occasion after moseying past the pint-guzzling crowds off Albert Quay and down Centre Park Road. As is anyone who has experienced the semi-feral roar that accompanies the first clash of the ash in the Munster Hurling Championship, we are both familiar with the electricity and tension that can permeate every crevice of the Páirc on a big day.

Unfortunately, there was no such energy pulsing through the stadium on Saturday when Munster hosted Gloucester at the home of Cork GAA. The general consensus around us as we made our way out of the ground after was that the atmosphere was more akin to the Aviva for an Autumn international than Thomond Park on a European Cup night. Atmosphere is a funny one and difficult to predict or affect. Town had been awash with red and buzzing all afternoon. Though the match wasn’t a sellout, 35,000 tickets sold meant the attendance was almost 40% higher than a full house in Thomond can manage.