WITH THE LIKES of Rua Tipoki and Jason Holland back in Thomond Park last night alongside fellow Munster legends like Doug Howlett and Jerry Flannery, there was a feeling of the good old times around the place.
No doubt plenty of pints of Guinness were taken on board as former glories were remembered, but you get the feeling that one man will have been looking towards the future more than anyone.
Rassie Erasmus has been winning over the Munster support since arriving from South Africa in the summer, and the signs last night were that the director of rugby has a few more promising players to work with in the coming years.
With Ireland internationals away for today’s meeting with Canada in Dublin, less heralded Munster men like Conor Oliver, Darren O’Shea and John Madigan stood up to be counted in Munster’s 27-14 win.
There were debuts for Sean O’Connor and John Foley off the bench too, and Erasmus was delighted with what he saw.
Apart from the result we are not only building depth but confidence in the depth,” said the South African.
As impressive as the performance was the atmosphere around Thomond Park as Munster supporters filled the stadium for the second time in a row.
Erasmus could never have expected that his first few months with Munster would have been as emotionally testing as they have been, but he has been touched by the response to Anthony Foley’s death.
“I’m a South African but after the last 16 weeks, I think my heart is turning Irish,” said Erasmus after last night’s game. “The people here are special people.
“We went through a tough time with our head coach passing away. I have learned a lot about Irish culture and I think it is showing on the field with people sticking together.”
The bond between Munster players and supporters has been understandably strong in these difficult times, as they have been united in grief and now resilience.
Back row Tommy O’Donnell, who captained Munster last night, feels that the supporters are feeding off the work rate they are seeing from the province’s players at present.
“Munster fans just want to see effort, they just want to see raw effort,” said O’Donnell. “They don’t care about knock-ons, they don’t care about the score at the end of the day if you’ve left everything out on the field.
I think they can see that and in the last two games, that’s what they’ve seen. They’ve seen Munster players going out there and leaving it all on the field. Bodies at the end of the game cramping and sore, battered and bruised, just clawing and clawing for the win.
“That’s what they got.”
Munster’s game plan at present is simple and clear, with Jacques Nienaber’s energetic defensive system allowing the players to expend their aggression in a concise manner.
In attack, the clarity of demands on Munster’s players from Erasmus is also producing positive results.
“With the weight of expectation, you can get bogged down about rugby and what you have to do, certain roles,” said O’Donnell. “At the end of the day it’s a physical game, it’s you against the guy opposite you.
“I think we’re getting better at that and going out and expressing ourselves.”
Meanwhile, the visiting Maori All Blacks were impressed by what they saw at Thomond Park.
Head coach Colin Cooper did bemoan his players’ lack of sharpness around the breakdown laws – most of them having played in the Mitre 10 Cup this season, in which the jackal had been removed from the game – but stressed that Munster were deserved winners.
“We have been really impressed with the whole set up here in Munster, with the locals and with how knowledgeable they are and how rugby passionate.
“I thought I was in New Zealand. I can see why a lot of Maori boys want to come play over here. Their culture is the same as our culture.”
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