‘We thought we were in a big Limerick’

LONG regarded as Munster’s 16th man, the province’s fans were pinpointed as the crucial difference between the sides on Saturday by Biarritz’s scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili.

Some people reckoned there were 100,000 Irish fans swarming around Cardiff on Saturday. The amount of them that got inside the ground is a bit hazier but, whatever the figures, their part in the victory was monumental.

With the roof closed, the noise reverberated around the Millennium Stadium from beginning to end. Designated the ‘home’ team by the ERC last week, Munster confirmed as much by laying claim to all but the smallest of red and white pockets on the day.

“It was very hard for us to play [there], the French international admitted. “We thought we were in Limerick. A big Limerick. If we played in Paris, maybe we would have won. I don’t know. It is not to make excuses. We lost, they won. That’s life.”

Yachvili seems to be missing the point. Cardiff, Paris, Rome, Timbuktu, Munster would have invaded any of them in equal numbers. This wasn’t a game as much as a cultural movement.

The story of Munster’s quest for this trophy has grown to epic proportions down the years but Yachvili didn’t agree with the assertion that the Irish province won because they wanted it more.

In many ways, Biarritz are the new Munster. Only once in six years have they failed to negotiate a path through the group stages and Saturday’s defeat came on the back of two successive semi-final exits to French neighbours in the past two seasons.

The path back to a European Cup final is a long one, but Biarritz need look no further than their conquerors at the weekend for a road-map. Club president Marcel Martin believes it is a task within their reach.

“This is very disappointing for us, but that’s life. We can take encouragement from Munster who have won the cup after being so close so many times. This was their third final and only our first. We must come back again.”

And to think it all started so well for them. Just like Leinster had done in the semi-final, Munster began by spilling the kick-off and Biarritz were quick to accept the invite.

In a game of this magnitude, seven early points were manna from heaven but Yachvili was quick to admonish himself and his team-mates for failing to build on such solid foundations.

“It was good to score a try quickly, but we didn’t keep working enough to win this game. We are sad about that. It is hard to come away from a final with nothing. I am disappointed for all the team, for all the supporters because we all worked very hard.”

Of equal annoyance will be their performance in the second half when, with Munster visibly losing their shape, Biarritz failed to capitalise.

“We were not very far to win, but we made too many mistakes,” said Yachvili. “Against a team like Munster if you make mistakes like that it is not possible to win, especially with O’Gara kicking penalties like he was.”

The biggest mistake of all was the failure to nip Peter Stringer’s impish run over their try line after 32 minutes. Many fingers were pointed, most in the direction of Sereli Bobo on the wing and full-back Nicolas Brusque. The number 15 held his hand up to his role in the error.

“It was just a lack of communication,” explained the 25-year-old. “I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Stringer running around the side. It is something you never see in rugby.”

The time for introspection and regret will have to pass quickly though. For Biarritz, there is the small matter of regaining their French league title in the coming weeks.

“It’s hard to accept, but we have to keep the head up because we have a semi-final in our championship,” said Yachvili. “We have to stay together and keep working if we want to keep our trophy.”

After Saturday, it would be churlish not to wish them the very best.