Soaring to new heights

TO the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible.

So read the motto on one of the many red banners decorating Lansdowne Road yesterday and how well they described the heart and soul of this Munster team. As coach Declan Kidney and his players readily agreed, a 30-6 scoreline offered a grossly distorted picture of the Heineken Cup semi-final but it is equally true to say that anything other than a decisive victory for Munster would have done a disservice to their dominance.

From the first exchange, when Malcolm O’Kelly spilled Ronan O’Gara’s kick-off, the Munster forwards tore into the opposition with unrelenting ferocity. Paul O’Connell was again an inspirational figure and while there will be many who felt the man of the match award should have gone to Ronan O’Gara, the manner in which the great second-row drove forward in possession, knocked players back in the tackle and ruled the line-out with an iron fist was awesome to behold. The red hordes, who seemed to take over the stands and terraces very much as their team did on the pitch, adore this man and his attitude.

Those around him couldn’t but have been inspired by such leadership. As for Leinster, too many of their players and especially those with only scant experience of Munster on a day of this significance, stood off and allowed themselves to be bullied and pushed around the place. Their coach, Australian Michael Cheika, claimed beforehand that he and his assistant David Knox had a pre-match edge “because we’re not carrying any historical baggage”.

As the game progressed, they became as bemused as any of their players and if they underrated Munster on the back of the most recent meeting of the sides in the Celtic League on December 31, they now fully appreciate how foolish that would have been.

With the pack failing to put up much of a fight, the so called galacticos in the hitherto brilliant back line were contained with relative ease. Out-half Felipe Contepomi, identified by some as the key man in the build-up to the game, suffered most. Strange to say about a man with a strong and successful international pedigree, he seemed ill at ease from the start. His failure to land a few penalties, one a sitter on the half hour, further undermined his self belief until it got to the stage where he could do little right. He compounded everything when opting to run a penalty under the Munster posts in the 64th minute at 16-3 down when there was still plenty of time to save the game. He made a mess of it and when Brian Blaney did likewise a few moments later after forcing one of the game’s few line breaks, Leinster heads dropped still further.

Contepomi’s eclipse coming on top of the hammering the pack was taking up front led to two crucial developments. First and foremost, it meant the potentially lethal Leinster three-quarter line rarely had the opportunity to test the mettle of the opposition. Just as significantly, perhaps, O’Gara’s morale rose in parallel with Contepomi’s difficulties - the difference between the pair was stark and graphic. Malcolm O’Kelly has taken the rap for missing the tackle on O’Gara that sealed the win but Cheika, Knox and the whole of Leinster would also like to know where Contepomi and a few of his back line colleagues were at this late and vital stage of the game.

Munster were good yesterday, no doubt about that, but there is at least one worrying area as they prepare for the Millennium Stadium in a month’s time. There remains a glaring lack of penetration behind the scrum and if the manner in which they kept the ball to themselves on those occasions when they swarmed all over the Leinster line is a reliable indication, then the forwards seemed to know it as well.

The team, of course, is seriously hampered by the loss through injury of a number of players, most notably Barry Murphy at second centre, and Christian Cullen, who is on the way back and for whom Cardiff could prove the ultimate redemption after all the disappointments of the last three years.

However the outlook shows little sign of improvement after the injuries to John Kelly in the 11th minute and his replacement Rob Henderson with a quarter of an hour to go. Both will be scanned later today for shoulder and ankle damage respectively with Kidney so frustrated as to suggest that they might not field a Number 13 jersey in the final.

O’Connell and O’Gara were the names you heard no matter where you went in Dublin last night as the Red Army celebrated in style. But there were several other heroes, not least Freddie Pucciarello who scrummaged superbly in substituting effectively for Marcus Horan. John Hayes, as ever, was a tower of strength and the fact that several of their forward colleagues weren’t as prominent as usual only served to underline the kind of work they were doing at the coalface.

Nor should we forget Peter Stringer’s heroics. Kidney was clearly worried about allegations of gamesmanship when he arranged for team doctor Tadgh O’Sullivan to attend the post-match press conference after he declared his scrum- half as a doubtful starter only 24 hours earlier. O’Sullivan described the nature of the back spasm that Stringer picked up on Friday with the coach insisting there was still a question mark about his fitness right up to kick-off. Stringer looked totally at ease and gave a most polished performance.

Kidney also revealed that the team had their captain’s run at the same time as the Biarritz-Bath clash on Saturday so couldn’t give his assessment of the French team’s potential. He and his players will closely examine the video in the days and weeks to come and quickly appreciate the kind of bruising forward battle that lies in wait.

It wasn’t pretty in San Sebastian on Saturday but it was mightily effective. The Basques have a real general in scrum-half Dimitri Yachvilli and he is also a potent place kicker. Munster still have it all to do if they are to at last reach the Holy Grail in this, their third final since 2000.

For now, though, the brave and faithful march on in total symmetry - alongside their remarkable fans.