Black Pearl ready to shine as Toulouse on revenge mission
For opponents, the downside of Emile Ntamack is that he is a major threat and today, at the Stadium de Toulouse, Anthony Horgan will have his work cut out to contain the Black Pearl of French rugby.
In the free-flowing days of the 1980s, the main man of French rugby was Serge Blanco, an 80-a-day smokes man who didn’t really give a damn about structures.
Blanco did as he wished off the pitch and did as he wished on it. He was the Geroge Best of rugby even if he didn’t quite make the same money or spend it to the same extent either.
Ntamack? Well, he was and is a much more modern professional. He is the only survivor of the Toulouse team he captained to victory in the inaugural year of the Heineken Cup.
In 1996 Toulouse expected to dominate the tournament for years to come but that never happened.
Three years ago, Munster headed for Bordeaux for a semi-final. You couldn’t back Toulouse at the odds and you would have got a wild price about Munster.
The Irish side brought off one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition and Toulouse haven’t recovered since. But Ntamack is determined that things will change today.
“We have waited three years to get another crack at Munster. To be fair, they are a fantastic side. They have got to two finals and were very unlucky not to get to three.
“They are Celtic League champions and that will be a huge boost to them. We know how it feels to lose at the
final hurdle and Munster have had a share of trauma in the past few years.
“Okay, the Celtic League is not as big a competition as the Heineken Cup but I am sure it was very important for them to get a trophy.
" They are a remarkable side. Nobody gave them a chance when they took on Gloucester in the last game of the pool. They had so much to do but they showed they can be inspirational.
“I cannot quite remember how many points they had to score to go through to the knock-out stages (27 and four tries), but I do know it was a lot to ask of any team “
Nobody in France gave that match much consideration because we thought it was all over, that Gloucester were going through to the quarter-finals, but we were delighted to learn that an Irish team could beat an English side in that manner.
“Then we looked at the Leicester-Munster game and everyone believed Leicester would win because of their strength in depth. Yet, we learned that Irish teams had this great ability to overcome again.
“I suppose, if you look at the way the Irish international side has improved, we should not have been that surprised.
“Ireland beat France this season again, the third win from four, so again we should not be surprised.
“I think, however, that Munster play a different type of game from Ireland. So do we and I hope that will lead to this match being a very good one.
“The passion is there with our supporters and I know from previous experience that Munster fans have a huge passion for the game also.
"Whatever happens this year, I am sure it is going to be one of the greatest occasions in the history of the Heineken Cup.
“From a personal point of view I cannot make any promises other than to say that I am enjoying my rugby at the present time.
“Our ambition this year is to win a trophy and we are on course for two. We will take nothing for granted against Munster and I do know that we are like them.
"Sure, we won the Heineken Cup once but that is a long time past. They have been to two finals and they will treat this as another opportunity to get to a third.
“There will be a lot of excitement in the stadium this afternoon but I know it won’t be easy for us because Munster will bring as much fanatical support as us.
“In all my years in my involvement with the Heineken Cup, I have hardly come across better supporters than Munster. Sometimes, particularly away from home, they make it easy for the team to perform,” he said.
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