Retribution in the air as Red Army look to Leicester rerun
Munster, slayers of the mighty Gloucester have been presented with a tie which will be shaped by cold revenge and caustic pay-back.
Leicester, who stole the Heineken Cup title from the finger tips of Stringer, Gallimh and company in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff eight pained months ago, now fill the horizon like a looming battleship.
‘All the better’ seems to be the Munster viewpoint. The big guns are being greased in readiness. The gun sights are set. Motivation will not be a problem. A war of retribution awaits.
And in the midst of it all is Neil Back, whose illegal “Hand of God” in the last scrum of the European Cup final, catapulted his name and that of Leicester into the realms of infamy amongst the Red Army. Within minutes of receiving word of the tie, he hoped for mass amnesia to envelop the Southern Counties between now and April.
“That’s one I want to forget,” he admitted yesterday. “The bottom line is that I don’t need to be reminded of what happened. We won the game, scored two tries to one and had two tries disallowed.
“I have no doubt that it will be a really tough match. Munster have been to the forefront in Europe for a considerable time. They are a very good side. I would be confident of beating them if we re-produce the type of form we displayed in beating Neath this weekend but Munster proved against Gloucester that they are capable of anything. And, of course, they have won a few big matches away from home.”
The Tigers director of rugby Dean Richards needs no reminding that getting the better of Munster will be no easy task. Especially with that little history stain weighing heavily on the affair. “Taking away the cup final last year, Munster have always had a reputation for causing big upsets,” he said. “They upset the apple cart wherever they go, and we know that it will be hard. Home advantage does count for something, although Munster will be desperate to take our title away.”
However, Munster were not worrying themselves about past spats. At least not openly. Coach Alan Gaffney was instead enjoying the emotion that was Saturday and plotting the overturning of some more apple carts.
“We are happy to get to the last eight,” he agreed. “Leicester are a particularly difficult team to beat, particularly at Welford Road, but it is another challenge for us. The manner of our achievement in beating Gloucester and qualifying suggests we can go there and win.
“I haven’t been in Munster that long but the spirit and aggression is still very evident. On Friday, people had written us off. It is a bonus to reach the quarter-finals and I have no doubt that the players will rise to the occasion. We also have to look forward to Cardiff and the Neath match before even thinking about the rest of the Heineken Cup campaign.”
The good news for Munster is that most, if not all, of the walking wounded in the squad will be back in time for the mid-April quarter-final.
“Rob Henderson and David Wallace will be seeing their specialists in the next couple of days and expect to have clearance to play pretty quickly afterwards. Anthony Horgan will be back playing in a few weeks. Dominic Crotty and John O’Neill should be back in the middle of next month and Paul O’Connell even before that.”
Ironically the quirk of fate that was the defeat of Toulouse by London Irish dashed hopes of a quarter-final meeting with Leinster who defeated Bristol. And with it the possibility of another controversial decision for the under-fire IRFU.
Even had Munster provided the opposition, Leinster admitted that they would have refused to move from their home ground at Donnybrook (capacity 8,500) to Lansdowne Road (capacity 48,500). Coach Matt Williams made it clear that his side didn’t want to move from Donnybrook in any circumstances.
“If it had been Munster, we would still have wanted to stay in Donnybrook. That’s our home ground. We would have been happy to play Munster but not at Lansdowne Road because, I’m sure, they would be much happier to take us on there.
“Anyway, that’s not an issue. We will meet Biarritz and we are, as a squad, 100% committed to playing on the ground that we are used to playing on.
“We are delighted to have beaten Bristol, to have topped the list of the eight quarter-finalists and to have gained a home draw. It doesn't matter who we play from now on.
“Every game is bound to be difficult and we won't take anything for granted against Biarritz. We are the only side in the competition with a 100% record after the pool games. It may not get a trophy but it certainly means a lot to the team and that was the squad target.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
