Phillips says Munster ‘ageing’ as he relishes Thomond tussle

AMID the simmering rivalry at Thomond Park tomorrow, Mike Phillips admits he will cast an envious eye around Munster’s own Field of Dreams.

The guaranteed sell-out crowd and subsequent hothouse atmosphere within the Limerick cauldron is just the sort of intimidating environment the British & Irish Lion revels in.

The younger brother of two amateur boxers, Phillips learned from a young age how to look after himself and now even wishes he had the chance to shine in front of the hostile Munster crowd every week.

Phillips was quick to dismiss any differences in class between Munster and the Ospreys and even went as far as cheekily suggesting many of the Irish players may be entering their “twilight” years.

However he was forced to concede that off the field, their remains a sizeable gulf between the two clubs. The Ospreys vastly out-sell all their Welsh rivals in jersey sales but despite the lure of an embarrassment of riches in their squad, attendances at the Liberty Stadium remain disappointing.

Only this week, the Welsh club was fined for the late return of almost 3,000 unsold tickets for their quarter-final against Biarritz in San Sebastien last April. In stark contrast, Munster fans would be willing to trade their back teeth just to be there.

“Munster are the team we try to emulate in many ways. They have been hugely successful, especially in Europe, and I’m quite jealous of the fact that their crowd is so good,” said Phillips.

“Thousands upon thousands turn up for their games and follow them all over, while we had 5,000 last week against Edinburgh.

“The atmosphere at Thomond Park makes it a great place to play, even as an opponent. The crowd really get on your back but that’s great, it’s what you want as a player because it lifts you.”

The Ospreys are seen as the petulant young upstarts of European rugby. Formed just seven years ago, they have already put a few noses out of joint, particular among the ERC administrators, and Phillips believes they can continue to do so tomorrow against an apparently ‘aging’ Munster.

“Having been so successful before, perhaps that is now tapering off because many of their players are coming to their twilight years,” said Phillips. “We are a young and confident squad who are building, hopefully, towards being as successful as them.”

The facts support Phillips claims over the age-difference. The average of of Munster’s starting line-up tomorrow will be 29 years and 4 months, exactly two years older per man than their Welsh counterparts, at 27 years and 4 months. Marty Holah is one of only two 30-year-olds in the Ospreys team, compared to seven 30-somethings among the men in red who will start the game.

However both teams are only too aware that statistics and lies sometimes go hand in hand.

Plotting the Ospreys development in Europe does show an upward tread, from finishing bottom of their pool in 2003/4 to quarter-finalists three years in succession. However their growth has been stunted by successive losses at the knockout stages at the hands of Saracens, Biarritz and, most painfully, Munster in 2009.

“That really wasn’t a nice experience. It was one of those days when everything went Munster’s way. We really have put that behind us. We have beaten them out there since that day.”