WITH four minutes to go last weekend Munster trailed Clermont by two points. The prospect of not reaching the quarter finals for the first time in 10 years was quickly becoming a reality for Munster. The capacity crowd was beginning to panic. The visitors had not read the script. They seemed ruthless in their pursuit of Munster’s scalp. They had 89% of the second half possession.
They had 14 men who looked like they were possessed. Yet, in those four short minutes the men in yellow left with a 10 point loss. The reason? Sheer Munster brilliance. Munster did not panic.
You see if it walks like a duck and it looks like a duck, then more often than not it is a duck. When the game is lost and all hope seems gone in a game, Munster always come through. If they look dead and buried, if the opposition think they are dead and buried, then one thing is for sure, Munster are still alive. You see one thing that Munster have that other teams don’t is a sense of responsibilty. I know we can talk about heart and passion and pride, but that all comes under the one umbrella of responsibilty. When Cudmore lost the plot and started punching Paul O Connell, (by the way, that was blood from Cudmore knuckles on O Connell’s lip) the crowd awoke and the Munster players rose. The players all realised that the challenge had been set and they were not going to leave anyone down.
Even with four minutes to go, the team did not panic. They knew that they had a responsibility to the 26,000 fans and their team mates to just go down the field and score. That might sound a little too simple and easy an explanation, but that is how simple these players make the game look. Post match, O Connell spoke of Clermont’s passion and ability. Mc Gahan said that “they are the best team I have ever analysed”. However, with his lip split, his knee iced and his eyebrow bloodied, captain fantastic stated that at no stage were the players panicked when faced with the challenge of scoring once more to win. Of course we all know now that they scored twice to win, but that just goes to show the level of commitment and will to win of this team.
The game of course had it all. As games in Thomond Park always seem to do. Munster struggled to match Clermont up front. Even with seven forwards against eight. Take that into account as well as the possession stats and it makes it even harder to figure out how Munster won. All three tries were scored by the forwards. All three tries were set up by great go forward play, by forwards, so were Munster really beaten up front? It was that kind of game. Munster are never ever beaten. They can soak up pressure and then hit you when you least expect it. It is hard to explain what that “X Factor” is, but I am glad we have it.
I think this point needs mentioning. It came to me as I went through my notes on Saturday night. After the All Black game in the Autumn, a certain Ireland captain stated that; “We can’t be expected to tackle, tackle, tackle and not concede. Eventually you can make 99 tackles, but that 100th one is going to break you”
After 84 tackles last weekend, a Clermont centre had to go off holding his jaw, wondering where he was after our scrum half had put him on his back on our own line. That is the difference. The Munster red jersey truly has mythical powers. Conventional rules of rugby do not apply. That is what makes Munster so special to follow, so frustrating to play against and so hard to write about.
Every team in every sport wants to be able to win ugly. Munster don’t know how to win pretty. So, when Sale arrive in January, the game will follow a similar pattern. The pattern will be a Munster win and a dogged performance. What else can we expect or want from our men in red. Happy Christmas.
