LAST Sunday at 16.15 French time, this hack sat in seat 16B at the Stadio Anoeta in San Sebastien. At 16.16, this hack was nearly deaf. The reason? The Biarritz Olympique crowd were singing. They did not stop singing until 19.00 hours. That was when I last heard them anyway, as my bus pulled away from the stadium.
Munster were beaten on the field and lessons were learned both on the pitch and in the terraces.
Before the massive travelling Red Army entered the stadium, they were treated to a sight that all sport supporters should mimic. Tables with wine, baguettes and families surrounded the stadium. These mobile living rooms were hiding away in every available cubby hole from the unexpected rain showers. The sight was truly amazing seeing as all ages and sexes mingled and ate ahead of the battle which was about to commence.
Once inside the ground, the eerie silence was a complete contrast of what was to come. The pre-match build up began with some popular music played at a deafening pitch. Then, once the crowd was in their seats, the show began. It started and ended with a six foot plus Indian, in full head dress, winding up the home support from his Ford Pick up. The scene then got even more deafening once the plastic tubing everyone seemed to have, were banged together in tune with the club song. Factor in the confetti, the waving of the arms in a fanning motion and suddenly the game has started and all hell has broken loose. “Surely this has to stop sometime” thought this, by now slightly in awe journalist. It didn’t. As the Munster side were been taught a lesson in intensity and passion, the BO fans were showing every sports fan how to be part of the experience.
If you have ever experienced the klaxon horn filled GAA games of our summer or even the Thomond Park roar at full belt, then take it and multiple it by 10. Then and only then can you truly appreciate the atmosphere of last weekend’s game.
The game itself moved in slow motion. Looking at certain intervals that it was almost under the spell of the crowd, or as I think, that Indian mascot. The second half was probably the worst you will see Munster play. The game ran away from the Red Army as if they were having an out of body experience. Biarritz are not World beaters by any stretch of the imagination and they will not win the Heineken Cup, but the lessons learned on and off the field will stand to everyone who made the trip. The culture of passion and civility is something that we Irish could take a few notes on. The final in Paris will go on without us, but we will be back. This time next year who knows where the Red Army will be. The fact is this however. However good we think we are as a sports mad nation, we still have a lot to learn
