AS THE OFFICIAL health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby, laya healthcare is passionate about the provincial game.
In this new series, Provincial Pride, a number of loyal fans will relive their team’s finest moments and look ahead to the future.
This week, it’s the Red Army…
It’s been a challenging start to the new season for Munster as new head coach Graham Rowntree settles into the job alongside an all-new coaching team.
Rowntree has been quick to blood young talent across the opening rounds of the new United Rugby Championship season and, following one win from their first four matches, there were signs of progress in the 31-17 victory over the Bulls at Thomond Park. Munster followed that win up with an interpro defeat to Leinster at Aviva Stadium, but while the province ended up on the wrong side of the result, they could again point to a number of promising performances among their emerging stars.
Munster fans Imelda O’Halloran and Joe Fitzgibbon see Rowntree’s willingness to put faith in youngsters as a major positive which will hopefully serve the province well in the coming years.
“It has been a rocky start to the season, nobody can deny that, but what we can see is that they’re bringing a lot of younger players through, which is fantastic to see,” Imelda says.
“They’re giving Academy players like Conor Phillips opportunities, and that’s all promising for the future. We need to be thinking about our homegrown players and getting them game time. And it will gel. We’re only a few matches in so hopefully it’s onwards and upwards.
“You have the likes of Alex Kendellen coming through last year, Ben Healy is coming through as well the last couple of years and it’s great to see.
“It’s like when Leo Cullen took over at Leinster,” Joe continues. “He had a tough run of games in his first season, they only won one Heineken Cup match. So it’s going to take time with Munster. You see some green shoots appearing.
“Whether it’d be good enough to do anything this year, you’re hopeful and you still go to the matches, but as long as we can get the groundwork in place to have a really good run at it next year, I’d be happy.”
Joe has been following Munster far and wide since the late 1990s, but of all the games he’s attended over the years, one stands out above the rest.
Like so many Munster supporters, for Joe, nothing tops the ‘Miracle Match’ in 2003, where Munster defied the odds to record one of the most famous wins in their storied history.
Needing to beat Gloucester by four tries and with a 27-point winning margin, or by five clear tries, to avoid elimination from the Heineken Cup in the pool stages, the province stormed to a remarkable four-try, 33-6 win at Thomond Park – Ronan O’Gara crucially converting John Kelly’s late try to send the home team through.
“It was in the old Thomond Park so tickets were like hen’s teeth, but a mate of mine managed to get two,” explains Joe, a native of Thurles now living in Dublin.
“To be honest I didn’t know we needed that last conversion to go through. I thought it was only the four tries we needed. It was a hard enough conversion but O’Gara nailed it.
I was in the terrace and I remember the hunger and the desire in the way people were screaming Munster on. It was just something else. You just got goosebumps.
“The press and everybody had written off Munster, saying there was no way they could qualify. I told my mate I had backed Munster to win and qualify for the next round at 33/1. Instead of paying him the price of the ticket, he said to put the money on the same bet for him. So we each had about 20 quid on 33/1!
“The atmosphere was just fantastic, the pitch invasion afterwards, the players coming back out singing, the whole lot. It was just like a big family celebration.”
Imelda has been going to Munster games for 15 years but her favourite memory of watching the province is a more recent one.
In January of this year, Munster welcomed Wasps to Thomond Park in the Champions Cup and secured a bonus-point victory, which saw them make it four wins from four in the pool stages.
“It was the first game after lockdown restrictions were lifted, so everybody was in great form,” Imelda remembers. “There was a great atmosphere in the ground and Munster played very well. The crowd and the team just fed off each other.
It was also the first time I was able to bring my daughter, Holly, to a match. She was four and a half months old. The fact that she didn’t cry during the game felt like she was at least a little bit interested in rugby!
“But the overall atmosphere, and how well the players responded to it was just phenomenal.”
It was a memorable day for Munster winger Simon Zebo, too, as the fan favourite scored two tries to become the province’s all-time leading try-scorer in Europe.
“He’s special,” Imelda continues. “The place just lights up when he gets the ball. And you know what, we were just talking to him at the Zebre game last weekend and he’s such a personable guy, he’s very into meeting the fans and is always friendly.”
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