Munster’s Bourgoin fixture set for Geneva

IT seems certain that Munster’s away Heineken Cup fixture to Bourgoin will be played in a 32,000-seater football stadium in Geneva, and not at the French club’s home ground.

Conscious that Munster fans are likely to travel in huge numbers, Bourgoin are on the verge of conceding home advantage in order to accept a financial windfall instead. They play at the 8,500-capacity Stade Pierre Rajon but reckon the move to Geneva, a 90-minute drive away, will be welcomed by both sets of supporters.

According to former Munster scrum-half Mike Prendergast, it’s 90% certain that the match will be switched. “It will clearly suit the travelling fans who, instead of having to fly into and stay in Lyon, can now base themselves in Geneva, which houses an international airport,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prendergast was full of praise for his old side after Saturday’s encounter, saying they appeared to have progressed and built on the style that has carried them through recent Heineken Cup campaigns.

“They did a huge amount of off-loading.

“I haven’t seen John Hayes and Quinny (Alan Quinlan) doing as much off-loading as they did in this game. It’s clearly a change of emphasis on the way they play, and it’s going to cause problems for other teams.”

Prendergast said their ability to play that kind of game had provided far better quality ball for the backs.

“Once it got out to Rog (Ronan O’Gara), Munster were able to unleash Trevor Halstead, and he did a lot of damage coming through the centre. Munster were able to control the game, and I thought that Ronan was really on top of his game — he had a particularly outstanding second half,” he said.

It was an emotional return for Prendergast, but he didn’t expect — nor did he receive — any favours from either Munster or the fans.

“The banter was all in good humour, but I always knew that nobody would make it easy for me,” he said.

Prendergast is convinced that Munster will take some beating: “They’re an incredibly well-organised team; these guys know what they’re doing at every hand’s turn; they’re very aggressive at the breakdown; they’re all playing well but Wally (David Wallace) is playing outstanding rugby.”

Inevitably, he was asked his views of Cardiff, whom Munster next meet in Wales in December and he described them as a good team that appears to have been strengthened since the opening games of the season.

“They (Cardiff) certainly stunned us a bit, but then we were very disappointed with our own play against them. We were particularly disappointed with the unforced errors we made.

“It will be a tough game away in Wales, but having watched Munster now, I just think they’re more clinical and stronger in key areas of the team.

“I think another positive for Munster is that we played much better than we did last week,” he added.

But Prendergast left Limerick with words of warning for Munster: “Don’t expect any favours back in France in January.”