Fans’ good cheer cold comfort to players

SATURDAY night, a Munster supporter in San Sebastian for the Heineken Cup quarter-final game was giving directions to one of his mates.

As faithfully as possible, given the language barrier, those instructions were passed on to the taxi-driver. He had never heard of the pub or the street, but did his best to find both. No joy. There followed more phone calls, text messages, but with exasperation rising in all parties at the time and miles being wasted, still no link-up.

Eventually, the penny dropped. The guy in the pub giving the instructions had come early to San Sebastian; the taxi and its occupant were in Biarritz.

Just another war story in the vast collection of the travelling Munster hordes. From San Sebastian, it will join the tales of a superb night of song in one venue, featuring the brilliant tenor voice of Na Piarsaigh’s Val Cooke, talented support cast in Frank Buttimer, Dermot O’Sullivan, Denis Maguire and Donal Daly, all from Cork, Jackie Keane from Listowel, Terence Galvin from Ennis, of umpteen other musical sessions at umpteen other venues, as the Munster fans sang and drank, following another hectic Munster trip.

They always have a ball, light up whatever town or city they happen to be in; always too, thus far anyway, at the end of each season, end up having to banish those blues, absorb another bitter blow.

The overwhelming disappointment this time, however, was for the players. In fact, even if you weren’t there, if you were one of the tens of thousands of fans watching on TV, or even one of the hundreds of thousands of casual fans accumulated over the past six or seven seasons from a variety of countries, one would need a heart of frozen mercury not to feel for those Munster players on Sunday, as they dragged their battered bodies from that baking stadium.

Shattered and emptied, it was so obvious in their body language as they trooped across the pitch to thank the Munster supporters on the far side of the ground.

Those who sang the night away afterwards were acutely aware of the pain of the players. They knew also that while their own disappointment would fade almost as fast as their hangovers, it would stay with those players for a long time.

But, seven years now and counting. Munster will win this Heineken Cup, it’s their destiny. People speak of the age profile, well, what of it? Due respect to the backs, the strength of this team is in the pack and in the half-backs, and most of those are still in their prime.

Anyone who saw the outstanding performance against Biarritz of Anthony Foley, the oldest of that group, and still claims he is a spent force is blind to the man’s enduring rugby genius.

In light of Foley’s super-charged, uninhibited performance, Eddie O’Sullivan was mentioned in quite a few post mortems, none of it flattering. Marcus Horan’s tour-de-force was thrown in for added ammunition, as was David Wallace’s ball-carrying, O’Callaghan’s dynamism and aggression - suggestions heard that O’Sullivan has, perhaps, an anti-Munster bias.

Funny, the same thing is said of Brian Cody, another hugely-successful coach (and please, don’t argue that Eddie hasn’t had a lot of success with this Irish side).

Cody has overlooked the claims of a couple of outstanding players in his own club, but anyone who questions his loyalty to James Stephens simply doesn’t know the man. The same applies to O’Sullivan and Munster. It’s just that, like Cody, O’Sullivan has an overriding loyalty; right or wrong, he goes with his own instincts.

Any criticism should be of his selection, not his personality.

Anyway, to hell with the blame game. Munster tried everything they knew in this game and justified their reputation as one of the top sides in Europe - perhaps they just didn’t know enough.

Next season will see them with a new coach, probably a new-look backline. They will once again be competitive, they will once again be there or thereabouts.

Sadly however, some of their greatest servants will be joining Gaillimh, the Claw, long John Langford, on the sidelines with no medal, just the memories.

As long as Munster keep coming up with outstanding effort, those memories will keep the fans going.

For the players however, cold comfort surely.