One in the eye for the obituary writers
The reception the players received when they arrived in the departures hall at Perpignan airport for the charter flight home revived memories of some famous victories on the road over the years.
You could see that Jean de Villiers and Wian du Preez were a little bit mystified by the whole thing as a small but ever loyal band of Munster supporters clapped and cheered their every movement. On arrival back to Cork a few hours later it was back to reality – cold, wet, and miserable.
Once again an outstanding group of players had given us cause for a little escapism.
What has been a historic and deeply rewarding year for Irish rugby as a whole was finished in style by the heroic performance of Munster in the Stade Aime Giral and a timely reminder that this team is not prepared to exit centre stage just yet.
Even in the narrow one-point win over Perpignan in Thomond Park, there were signs for anyone prepared to look closely enough that Munster were getting their act together. When I suggested as much during the week, I was on the receiving end of a few strange looks, though not for a minute did I see the possibility of returning home with five points in the bag.
The problem was those famous green shoots were well camouflaged by the concession of two soft tries in the opening 12 minutes that would have rocked any team, not to mention one that was still finding its feet after all the distractions and setbacks of recent times. It has been an eventful few months for Tony McGahan, what with that 30-0 drubbing at the RDS, the suspension of John Hayes, the illness of Marcus Horan and the unfortunate injuries to Jerry Flannery.
Prior to Sunday, Munster played in fits and starts and were struggling to piece together any consistency in their attacking game. The fundamental problem, of course, was that in terms of preparation time, the opening three months of the season had been bitty and disjointed. As a squad, Munster had limited opportunity to work together due to the mandatory recovery and rest periods for the Lions contingent.
The rewards of that programme will benefit both the provincial and national teams in the New Year but there is always a price to be paid in the short term. If you survive that period still in contention for silverware, you have a chance. Thankfully all four Irish provinces are in that position as we speak.
No doubt many will point to the fact that Leinster were hit with the same demands as Munster without anything like the same impact, and that is absolutely correct. Yet there is one critical difference – Munster’s load was far greater in the key front-five sector of the team. Paul O’Connell carried the huge workload of Lions captaincy with dignity, but he didn’t realise how much it had taken out of him. Alongside him, Donncha O’Callaghan had a full Lions shift while Hayes was involved in the latter stages before having his season thrown into disarray due to his five-week suspension.
When one factors in the issues surrounding the availability of Flannery and Horan, is it any wonder that Munster have struggled for long periods this season? No team can function without a stable set-piece and Munster’s was in trouble because of the never-ending series of calamities that befell several of their regular front five. By comparison, Nathan Hines was the only member of Leinster’s front five that toured with the Lions.
Leinster have performed magnificently this season due primarily to the platform their excellent front five, led by Leo Cullen, has provided for a gifted set of backs. Jamie Heaslip, inspired by his Lions experience, has directed all around him with the assurance of a seasoned veteran despite only reaching his mid-20s.
Munster’s problem is that their back row is manned by veterans with serious mileage on the clock. The likes of Alan Quinlan and David Wallace just cannot play high octane rugby week in, week out anymore and need careful management. They can, however, produce when the need is greatest, as they demonstrated with devastating effect last Sunday. It helped also that Denis Leamy finally seemed to rid himself of all his recent injury niggles to play his best game for Munster for some time. He was everywhere and never took a backward step despite the fact that he seemed to be the recipient of more cheap shots than the rest of the forwards combined.
It helped that the management showed more faith in the younger brigade on the bench by introducing Donncha Ryan and Tony Buckley earlier than they have done in the past. Both made significant contributions in setting up tries for Jean de Villiers and Doug Howlett with their ability to clean out at ruck time. The addition of fresh legs was both timely and welcome.
A word too for new Springbok loose head Wian du Preez, who was absolutely outstanding against Nicolas Mas last Sunday. Given that he is only here until January and arrived at a time when the team were receiving flak from all quarters, he could have been forgiven for keeping the head down and just collecting his pay packet. Far from it. He has immersed himself in the culture of this side and was central to the dominance that Munster enjoyed up front.
When he returns to Bloemfontein in a few weeks, he can do so with the knowledge that he has been ultra professional in his attitude and commitment to Munster. I am sure the experience will also benefit him in his quest to oust “The Beast” Tendai Mtawarira from the Springbok side in the build up to the next World Cup.
All week I felt that the Perpignan pack, when scrutinised individually, were not as good as their counterpart in the Munster jersey. Only Mas was a regular starter for France and when examined on that basis, they were trading on reputation rather than performance. It did, undoubtedly, help the Munster cause that Henry Tuilagi and Gerrie Britz failed to appear in their back row for either contest.
At some stage, of course, those who seem to specialise in writing off this team will have their day. It is inevitable that they will reach a point of no return – it may even come to pass this season. I prefer to enjoy and appreciate the amazing performances of the likes of Quinlan, Hayes, O’Gara and Wallace in the knowledge that we may not see their likes again in a Munster jersey.
Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2010.
