Kidney’s men join legends of ’78

FOREVER more, they’ll be spoken of in the same awed tones as the Munster team that defeated the All Blacks in 1978.

And just as Tom Kiernan was deified then for his contribution, so too will Declan Kidney after the manner in which he master-minded victory at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Then you had the Red Army, all 50,000 of them, so vocal and committed for 90 minutes, unashamedly shedding tears of joy and expressing their pride in song and chant as their heroes took the final step to immortality.

Ronan O’Gara said he was inspired by looking up at the big screen to see thousands on O’Connell Street in Limerick cheering the side on. Reel out all the cliches about Holy Grails and the fans being the 16th man and that kind of stuff; this time, they’re all justified. Munster are European champions and no side has or ever will merit the honour and glory as much.

As always, Kidney insisted that it was the players day and, technically speaking, he is correct. But he has long since proved himself an extraordinary coach with a cv of achievement. On Saturday, he revealed not alone his wisdom but also his courage. In truth, the team could probably have played a little better and there were too many unforced errors for comfort, but the organisation was well nigh perfect. Tactically, Munster were close to perfect; sadly for them, Biarritz once again failed to utilise their strengths to the full, a strange situation given the fact that their coach Patrice Lagisquet was a distinguished winger himself and has a declared leaning towards the expansive game.

Nor can Kidney have easily taken his mighty captain Anthony Foley out of the fray with more than ten minutes still to be played. He felt it was the right thing to do and that was sufficient cause. Foley, like the admirable man he is, accepted the decision to an extent that he all but approved of it in post match conversation. His attitude and that of those around him epitomised all that is best in Munster rugby. That Kidney made the right call in turning to Mick O’Driscoll was immediately apparent. O’Driscoll, after all, has been outstanding since his return from France and, in my view, is a strong candidate for Munster player of the season. The move worked like a dream as the fresh legs added renewed impetus to Munster’s determined resistance of a series of late and nerve-wracking Biarritz attacks.

Furthermore, when Paul O’Connell felt the need to bow out, Kidney was able to switch O’Driscoll to the second-row and introduce Alan Quinlan for his first European appearance since he suffered a serious knee injury in the first game of the tournament against Sale last October.

In doing so, the coach was simply making the best use of as strong a bench as he has had at his disposal for some time and this was surely a key factor in the outcome as the Basques piled on the pressure in those agonising final few minutes.

We’ll all have our personal memories of the day that changed so many lives in the space of 90 minutes. Mine will always be the picture of the delirious expression on Peter Stringer’s face as he realises he has out-foxed the Biarritz defence on the way to scoring one of the most exhilarating and memorable of all scrum-half tries. On the one hand, you have Serge Betsen, the great French flanker of the last decade or so, looking on in dismay and disbelief as Stringer strolls by him. You can only imagine the thoughts of left winger Sereli Bobo when he realised he had been lured out of position by his opposite number, Anthony Horgan, and into a fatal trap. Was this Kidney at work again?

Essentially, the destination of the 2006 Heineken Cup had been decided. Some might say two of the Biarritz potential match winners had been found in gross dereliction of duty. Fair enough. In the cameo were three men, two embarrassed and in deep shock, and a third who once again made a mockery of those who have consistently criticised him over the years. Strings isn’t often given to the flamboyant but who could blame him for the triumphant dive he made to finish off his try. He was only too well aware of the significance of the moment.

Stringer plies his trade in one of the most demanding of all positions. There are, of course days when the men in front make the task that little bit easier. Such was the case on Saturday although as is invariably the case, scrum-halves also need to fend for themselves. By their very nature, they are tough, resilient and just a little cheeky. In other words, the perfect persona to sum up Peter Stringer. When you’re about 5ft7 and little more than 11 stone and people like the marvellous Biarritz flanker Imanol Harinordoquy, all 17st 8lbs, 6ft4 of speed and venom are coming at you with malice aforethought, you need to be made of solid stuff.

Did you ever doubt Stringer in that scenario? The man’s a star turned living legend. His cocktail of passing, kicking, tackling, breaking and generally bossing the giants on either side of the scrum and line-out are more heady and give forth a greater buzz than any Tom Collins.

And then there was another much maligned man of Munster, John Hayes, producing a performance to rival anything we had seen before — and that’s saying something. The man from Cappamore performed his primary functions with his usual efficiency while his tackle count must have been up there alongside Denis Leamy, David Wallace and the rest. Jerry Flannery in the middle of the front-row continues to astound with the sustained ferocity and honesty of each game while an argument could be made that this was the finest of all Donncha O’Callaghan’s priceless contributions to the Munster cause.

The pack as a whole were immense, very much at ease in the set pieces in spite of the undoubted expertise of the Biarritz scrum and the quality of their line-out jumpers. It was little wonder, then, that Stringer managed to outshine Dimitri Yachvili, even though he too had a fine match. Stringer’s man of the match award was well merited and once again Ronan O’Gara rose to the occasion. A few of his tactical kicks may have been off the money but he did so many things perfectly while he banged over his goal kicks nervelessly. Trevor Halstead’s strength and hard running at inside centre was invaluable, a point well demonstrated by his try. He and fellow South African Shaun Payne are planning one more season at Munster before packing it in and going home. There may well be a rethink there considering that they are now legends in their adopted province.

Anthony Foley stressed one point at the post match press conference. This is not the last we will see of this Munster team just because they have achieved their greatest goal. It may not be a work in progress any longer but the amazing Red Army can rest assured that many more great days lie ahead.