Munster’s travelling fans draw short straw

GLOUCESTER was one tough mother of a weekend.

Wonderful town, wonderful fans, wonderful atmosphere, terrible match.

Defence aside, our lads just didn’t play. A bad day at the office, not helped by the fact that the majority of the team were doing nixers with the Irish squad in the build-up.

But it wasn’t just the game that made this a tough experience.

An excess of Indian food on the Saturday night meant that the morning ablutions of one of our party took a good deal longer than usual. Thus, the van was late hitting the road and we did not arrive in Fishguard until 2.05pm for a 2.30 sailing.

They wouldn’t let us on.

Red-clad and red-faced we stood on the dock waving forlornly as our ferry set out to sea.

Had the previous day’s result gone well, this would not have mattered overmuch, but the prospect of ringing the boss to tell him you would be missing work, followed by 24 hours in Fishguard was as appealing as a bout of phone sex with Martin Johnson.

The decision was taken to spend the night in Swansea and the following afternoon we shared the boat home with similar abandoned groups of bedraggled and bemused fans. The bitter January rain was beating down as our battle-weary van finally pulled into Cork late on a dark Monday night, four whole days after setting out.

Overall, a bit of a disaster but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Because, for all the comparative comforts of flying, there is no way we will give our money to travel agents currently feeding on the devotion of Munster fans.

On these pool game away trips you generally encounter the die-hard fans, guys involved in clubs who know the game and have seen the way things have changed for supporters over the last five years.

The feeling of antipathy towards travel agents among the fans I talked to was unanimous.

Pamela Hickey, with her Munster Sporting Club (MSC) was endeavouring to provide cheap travel for Munster fans and she should be applauded for doing so. Because she did not fill out the necessary paperwork with the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR), Ms Hickey could face seven years in prison and/or a €127,000 fine.

Apparently, CAR were made aware of the situation after a complaint from travel agents in the province.

You can imagine the consternation. “Munster fans flying to matches without getting fleeced? Oh, we can’t be having that.”

The Irish consumer is heartily sick of getting ridden roughshod. While we were in Swansea last Sunday night we went for a meal and a pint in one of the Wetherspoons chain of pubs. The service was prompt, the food and drink were ideal and it was cheap, incredibly cheap.

If Wetherspoons come to Ireland it will not be a moment too soon, for they will shake-up the other pubs who are currently charging exorbitant amounts for a substandard product.

Similarly with the MSC. Competition is always healthy. Ms Hickey claims the paperwork needed to legally establish the MSC is being processed and let us hope there will be no more attempts to thwart the establishment of a much-need organisation.

They could become the Ryanair of Munster sports fans. All-Ireland finals, away internationals, Premiership games could all suddenly become more feasible and it would surely force the other travel agents to cut their prices for fear of losing business.

Munster have become something of a phenomenon in Europe. Thousands travelled to Gloucester last weekend and many, including two of my companions, did so with no tickets. To the travel agents, Munster fans constitute a sure thing, and everyone knows what you do with a sure thing.

If the situation stays as it is, the travel agents will continue to make hay, the sooner Ms Hickey and others like her get our support the better for everyone.

In the meantime, we will continue to bump around Europe in our battered van, dreaming of pretty air hostesses and complementary drinks. How bad.