Bleyendaal: United front saw us beat adversity
Guinness PRO12
Bleyendaal, 27 next week, was a member of the Canterbury and Crusaders squads in 2011, when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck his hometown, killing 185 people, injuring thousands and causing widespread damage to the city’s buildings and infrastructure. The way the Crusaders helped pull the community around it through the dark days that followed stayed with the fly-half and, though the sudden death of Munster head coach Anthony Foley last October was an individual loss, Bleyendaal saw echoes in the reactions to both events.
Now, as he prepares for Saturday’s Guinness PRO12 final against Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium, the Munster player of the year believes the province are benefiting from the same qualities that got them through the initial stages of Foley’s loss.
“From the beginning of the pre-season, when Axel was here, the coaching group were very much aligned and we were building towards what we have now. So, when that tragedy occurred and Axel passed we were already together, already a tight group.
“The way Rassie [Erasmus, director of rugby] led us and took all the heat off us with the media, the way he handled things, it allowed us to go about our business. We didn’t know how we were going to react. I don’t think anyone knows how you’re going to respond to a tragedy like that, but as we got through the first game and all the emotion, we had a good eight- or nine-match stretch where we just gave it everything and I think again, that’s just reaffirmed what we’re built on, that hard work and the no-nonsense stuff. I think that helped us get through that period, which I hope no-one ever has to go through.”
Five years earlier, there had been a similar response in totally different circumstances in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake, the second major seismic event to hit the Canterbury region in five months. For Bleyendaal, who had grown up idolising hometown fly-half heroes like Andrew Mehrtens and Dan Carter, it was the Crusaders who became a focal point for the community.
“I was in the Crusaders squad when the earthquakes happened. It was more a case of the whole city was affected. We lost our home ground, we lost material things and there were families affected that had personal loss, as well.
“As a rugby team, then, we had the responsibly and the privilege to galvanise the town. We were what they could get some joy out of in a pretty tough time and you’ve just got to find that focus within your group. We do what we love as a group every day and sometimes you just get on with that job and it’s almost a distraction, and it’s a good one at that. It was a club similar to Munster, some no-nonsense stuff and that’s why those clubs have been strong.” Bleyendaal will head back to Christchurch in the days following Saturday’s final to prepare for his wedding in the city the following weekend and he will be around when Munster teammates CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony, and Conor Murray arrive with the British & Irish Lions to play the Crusaders on June 10.
This weekend’s clash with Scarlets is taking centre stage for now, though, as Munster bid for a first trophy since 2011. They have not lost since their Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Saracens on April 22, when Bleyendaal and his fellow kickers were criticised for not straying from the tactic despite making little headway with it against the eventual champions.
“We had a plan to kick. We thought we had to kick. When we had the chance to attack, we didn’t take those opportunities. And we’ve probably, as a backline, we’ve had to take that responsibility which we’ve done, we’ve moved on. I think we’ve learnt a lot. Maybe in hindsight, this year, it will do us good. It’s hard to think like that at the time.”
The lessons from the defeat that day are already being learned, yet there will not be any radical overhaul from Munster in terms of tactics ahead of Saturday’s finale. Any changes to be made will be implemented during pre-season this summer.
”This weekend we’re in a 50-50 battle, so we’re obviously going to do our best to win but we can’t... weeks down the track we can look back and say we had a decent season, top four in Europe and the last two in the PRO12, and I think when Rassie came in he took his time in learning about the players and the coaching staff that were here and then implemented a plan that we could build on for years to come, not just now. It’s not just a one-hit wonder. I’d be confident that we can develop certain aspects of our game and definitely try to improve. At the same time, I think we’ve had an incredible year with the results and the way we’ve definitely had to grind out games. We’ve come through adversity and there’s been a lot of emotion, so I think it’s definitely something to build on for years to come.”
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