A painful French history lesson
Munster were coming off an eight match unbeaten run, including two victories on a short tour of Italy, but having displayed little of the form that had contributed to that sparkling record. Swansea led 13-10 when Murray struck in the 79th minute and Kenny Smith’s conversion gave them the insurance points as Swansea launched a furious late assault. A crowd of more than 6,000 attended the match but they were clearly disappointed by the low quality of rugby on offer in a game marked by an equally poor display from English referee Ed Morrison.
Munster, had they lost, would really have had themselves to blame though, due to their failure to utilise the wind advantage in the second half, having turned over 7-6 to the good at the break.
Instead, Swansea jumped into that 13-10 lead and they defended it comfortably through most of the last quarter, until Munster finally pieced together a move that had class stamped all over it. Anthony Foley, Peter Clohessy and Paul Burke all contributed to the move that allowed Murray slip in for the match-winning try as he thundered into the line and broke a tackle to get through at the posts. Murray, recalling the score, admitted that it was Munster’s only real opportunity in the game, and the last one as well.
Just one week later, Munster left Ireland for a trip into the unknown; the aristocrats of French rugby would, in those not so distant days, have been Toulouse . The very mention of Castres sent those involved in the trip scurrying to examine the map of France to see exactly where it was – only 60 miles away from Toulouse, and Munster based themselves there, travelling the two hours by bus to play the game which had to be moved to a soccer stadium in the nearby town of Mazamet because the club’s home ground did not have floodlights.
It was a new experience for all, including the handful of press representatives, supporters and players too; they had to endure the agony of losing in dramatic circumstances at the end of eight minutes injury time called by Welsh referee David Davies.
A draw would have been enough for Munster to march on to the semi finals, but all they could do was hang their heads in disbelief at the end of an energy sapping battle when Nicolas Combes and Laurant Labit combined to provide the extra points to give Castres a 19-12 lead. In defeat, Munster proved themselves worthy participants against a side at that time rated the second best club side in France.
Gabrial Fulcher and Paul O’Connor, then with Lansdowne, were in the second row for Munster that evening, and provided the visitors with a steady stream of possession, ably assisted by Mick Galway, who lined alongside Anthony Foley and David Corkery in the back row.
Munster shocked Castres with the intensity of an early challenge and Kenny Smith kicked three penalties before Labit did likewise to leave the teams level at the break. The goal kickers had one apiece in the second half and the game was heading for an honourable draw when disaster struck.
The captain, Murray, who earned the princely sum of £600 for his participation in that game, was bitterly disappointed given that Munster produced such a quality performance away from home.
Yet it was an eye opening experience for Murray and his players who had never experienced such an intense and hostile atmosphere throughout the match.
“After beating Swansea , we knew we were really in a knock-out situation even though the round-robin series of games was played on a league basis. We knew there would be a place in the semi-finals if we won; that even a draw might be enough.
“In those days, Castres wouldn’t have been well known to us, in fact most of us didn’t have a clue where it was, so it was really a venture into the unknown. That was both good and bad, good in the sense that we weren’t shaking with fear going out there, as some teams might if they had to play Toulouse in France around that time, bad because we didn’t know what hit us when we stepped onto the pitch.”
“In fact,” joked Murray , “the pitch was probably the safest place to be given the level of noise and intimidation coming from around the terraces and from what the few Munster supporters who had to endure a fair bit of verbal abuse told us. I remember we came out on the pitch first to a chorus of boos, we went through our pre-match drills to a chorus of boos, and when our names were announced before the match, when we were introduced to the local Mayor before the match, the crowd continued to hiss and boo.
“At some stage of the pre-match warm-up, Kenny Smith (goal kicker) decided to go down to the other (quieter) end of the pitch to kick a few goals because there was such noise being directed at us where we were.”
He wouldn’t have been used to that given the silence you would get at Thomond Park when someone is kicking for goal.
“He wished afterwards that he had endured the abuse. We were awarded a penalty early on and Kenny ran up confidently to aim for goal; just as he began his run, there was a chorus of boos and a band struck up. Poor Kenny nearly hit the corner flag with his attempt, the ball dropped into the winger’s hands and he ran the ball back 60 yards at us before myself and Axel (Foley) managed to knock him into touch.
“The noise continued, the bands struck up at key moments and we really had a hard time coping with the whole scenario. In the circumstances, I thought we played very well, and it really was disappointing to lose.
“Even though Munster had to endure difficult assignments abroad after that, I doubt if any of them could compare to that first match; I’ve never come across anything like it.”
The circumstance of the defeat was such that the Munster dressing room was eerily silent at the end of a physically exhausting contest. Murray admitted there was one light moment as they sat there, heads bowed, in reflection. It involved Mick Galwey and Peter Clohessy who had developed a unique friendship from across the club divide (Shannon and Young Munster).
Murray takes up the story of that dressing room incident when Murray Kidd, the then Irish coach, swept in.
“I was sitting in between the two lads. Kidd came in from the right and approached Peter, who was on my right, inviting him back into the Irish squad before moving on past me and Mick and heading out the door.
“Suddenly Gallimh turned to the Claw and said: “Thanks for asking him about me,” to which Peter replied, “Gallimh – you’re on you f…ing own, kid!”
- The above is an extract from Rags to Riches – The Story of Munster Rugby by Barry Coughlan which is published by The Collins Press, price €27.95. It is available in all good bookshops and online from www.collinspress.ie.
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