Thomond schooling guides Byrne into Páirc Uí Chaoimh showdown

THOMOND SCHOOLING: Gloucester's Ross Byrne

Ross Byrne credits the white heat of Thomond Park for teaching him the arts of game and crowd management and the former Leinster fly-half will bring all that to bear when Gloucester pitch up at Páirc Uí Chaoimh to face Munster this Saturday.

Now 30, and with 22 Ireland caps to his name, Byrne was in the third and final year of the Leinster academy when he played for the first time in the 2016 St Stephen’s night derby and though he came out on the wrong side of 29-17 defeat he admitted the experience gave him some valuable lessons which he implemented to good effect just 12 months later in a 34-24 victory for Leo Cullen’s men.

“December 2017, when Jordan Larmour scored that incredible try, I think that was probably my favourite win down there,” Byrne said.

“My first game actually down there, we lost. We lost by about 10 points, but it was definitely a big lesson in my career. So then, to go down a few years later, and put those wrongs right, it was pretty satisfying, and I'm still enjoying it.” 

As to the lessons learned, the fly-half said: “Probably around game management, and even managing the crowd and the atmosphere.

“I probably got sucked into it a little bit too much and made a couple of mistakes. The crowd got up all of a sudden and Munster turn into a different team, and they get on a roll. They ended up just a couple of penalties, maul, try, and all of a sudden the game's over.

“Whereas, probably the difference was, in that 2017 game, we went there and kind of took away the atmosphere a little bit. Obviously, it's easier said than done. They always manage to have their say in the game, the crowd, which is brilliant.” 

Byrne knows he will be viewed by Munster supporters through the prism of his Leinster allegiances this weekend, even though he has moved on to Gloucester.

“Yeah, lots will be different. Clearly, when Leinster play Munster, it's probably the biggest derby in Irish rugby, if not one of the biggest across Europe. That obviously won't be there, which is slightly different, but from my own perspective, I’ll probably have that subconsciously in the back of my mind a little bit.

“But again, it'll be very much trying to focus on what Gloucester can do to try and implement our game plan on Munster and see what problems we can cause them, as opposed to trying to go there and survive.

“I think that's probably not the attitude we'll have.” 

Byrne’s introduction to life at Gloucester has coincided with a difficult period for the club in terms of results but after getting used to rotating in and out of the Leinster number 10 jersey he is enjoying consistent selection as his new team’s main man through the week’s preparations and on gameday.

“Just being a 10, that's part of your job, so it's something I love doing now. Being able to do it every week is very enjoyable and it's something which I think is very important. So far it's been enjoyable, but we need to put that into results.” 

Last Sunday’s 34-14 bonus-point victory over Castres at Kingsholm, in which Byrne kicked four conversions and two penalties to help get the Cherry and Whites up and running in Pool 2, will have endorsed Gloucester’s belief that they have finally kickstarted their season after a tricky first two months of their English PREM campaign.

Byrne’s first season away from Leinster had got off to a difficult start with a team decimated by injuries and suffering from the departures of key players but the November international break gave Gloucester head coach George Skivington an opportunity to regroup. They have hit the ground running from the restart, a league win over fellow strugglers Harlequins and now a momentum-giving European pool opener over French opposition to take with them to Cork.

Gloucester will face a Munster team reeling from a 40-14 hammering at Bath last Saturday, yet having represented Leinster at Croke Park, the Dubliner understands the significance of what this Saturday’s visit to Cork GAA headquarters will mean to the Munster players as they play their first European fixture there and Byrne said that would need explaining to his new team-mates.

“That'll definitely be something I'll touch on. A lot of the lads wouldn't be aware of what Páirc Uí Chaoimh means in terms of being a GAA stadium. Also, how much for a club like Munster, how important they see Europe to them. It'll definitely be something we speak about.”