Roll out the red carpet for Munster

LAST WEEKEND was another momentous one for Irish rugby. The achievement in getting two sides into the semi-final stages of the European Cup can only be appreciated in the light of the fact that English rugby failed to get any.

For some time now I have felt that the quality of the Zurich premiership has been overstated. Given that six English teams set out in this competition compared to our three, the achievement of the Irish sides is even more remarkable.

Having watched Leinster play on Saturday, their performance was clearly affected by a lack of match practice in the build up to their quarter-final tie with Biarritz. One feared that Munster would face the same problem on Sunday. It was interesting therefore that their cohesiveness and teamwork seemed that little bit sharper than Leinster.

Much of this was due to the fact that not as many Munster players were used in the Six Nations Championship than in the previous two seasons. As a result they were probably that bit fresher and hungrier for battle. I have no doubt that the quarter-final ties will stand both provinces in good stead for the upcoming semi-final clashes. Of the two, it would seem that Leinster have more scope for improvement.

There was a real danger entering the ninth minute of injury time that Leinster could lose their tie. Touch judge Chris White is on record as saying that had Girvan Dempsey’s last ditch tackle on Biarritz centre Mark Stcherbina been even a fraction earlier, he would have recommended that referee Steve Lander award a penalty try.

Unbelievably given their superiority throughout the game, this would have resulted in their exit from the competition. In hindsight the substitution of Victor Costello and Shane Byrne in the closing stages very nearly backfired on Leinster.

Back in Welford Road, the controversies that surrounded the build-up to the Munster game with regard to ticket allocation was further compounded by the gamesmanship exhibited by Leicester. The delayed kick off and the late introduction of Freddie Tuilagi for Rod Kafer seemed questionable.

I would not be surprised if the European rugby bosses announce that in future quarter-final ties be moved to neutral venues, or at the very least, grounds with a minimum capacity of 25,000. In the long run this certainly won’t suit Munster, as it would mean that Thomond Park could no longer host a quarter-final tie.

With regard to the game itself, due recognition must be paid to the work that went into forging such a famous victory. With such a long lead up to the game Alan Gaffney and Brian Hickie used their time well to examine all aspects of Leicester’s game.

Nowhere was this work more evident than the line-out battle. In last year's final, Munster came out second best in this crucial area. While it is a major plus to have three such serious athletes as O'Connell, O'Callaghan and Quinlan as your primary jumpers, the success on the opposition throw is a direct result of the painstaking hours of video analysis done on them. All the relevant information was made available to the players and, more importantly, they had the capacity to implement it on the field.

The difficulty now is that the players have a very limited time to prepare themselves with the nuances of the Toulouse side. They will present an altogether different challenge. On Saturday, for the first time in European Cup competition, a club side started the game with fifteen full international players. Their substitutes' bench contained three more. This is a measure of the task that now faces Munster. Having said that, they wouldn’t want it any other way. There is no point in taking the easy route at this stage.

At least from the supporters' perspective, the fact that Munster will receive in excess of 12,000 tickets, should help to satisfy the huge demand. Given that the final is fixed for Lansdowne Road, the level of travelling support could well be even greater than normal. That would provide another tremendous boost to the players.

While officially, Munster had only 4,000 people in Welford Road it certainly seemed far more on the day. Apart from a large contingent of the “red army” placed behind the Leicester goal in the second half, the balance of the support was spread out throughout the stadium in small pockets. When the singing started, all took personal responsibility to join in with their “blood brothers.”

From a personal perspective, seated as I was within a small Munster cell, I found it very difficult to take my notes, watch the game objectively and sing the ‘Fields of Athenry’ at the same time. However, the effort was worth it.

The humour of the fans was also very much to the fore and when Peter Stringer scored the final decisive try, one Munster “wag” seated behind the Tigers goal line, was heard shouting to the Leicester captain: “Johnson - We have a red carpet for sale - only half used”. Under different circumstances, I think he would have seen the funny side of it. Roll on Toulouse.