A nail-biter not for the faint-hearted

IF a cardiologist had hooked a Munster supporter up to a heart monitor last Saturday evening, he’d have been able to tell what was happening in the Millennium Stadium without switching on the television.

In the first few minutes the monitor would have registered a normal up/down pattern. It mildly fluctuated when Elissalde kicked Toulouse into a 3-0 lead, went berserk when Leamy touched down, and then flatlined when Yves Donguy scored in the corner, followed by a conversion which brought the sides level at 13 each.

Resuscitation was needed for some of the Red Army, but others off the pitch, as well as on it, didn’t panic.