UNDOUBTEDLY there were some tired and aching bodies on board the flight to South Africa at the outset of the week – including one Jeremy Loughman (pictured above) as Munster headed off to face their next couple of URC opponents.
Awaiting them will be consecutive fixtures against the Stormers this Saturday and the Sharks the following weekend.
Both of those sides are struggling close to the bottom of the league table.
Despite all the pre-match hullabaloo in Croke Park, the derby game between Munster and Leinster deflated after the first 40 minutes. And despite a brave effort from The Reds, Graham Rowntree’s side failed to overcome what was almost a full Irish international side.
The Munster travelling supporters were hardly heard as they watched their side fall to their once-bitter rivals for the 13th time in 15 meetings.
Looking back to the days of Gallimh and the Claw, when the Sixpenny Side in the old Thomond Park would explode as the Leinster full-back nervously awaited an ‘up and under’, current meetings between the sides are bordering on friendlies.
These are different times otherwise also with a rugby game played in the home of the amateur GAA, before an attendance of 80,000-plus, and with one of the Leinster players earning an estimated €600,000.
Ironically, this reporter fell foul of the IRFU on one occasion long ago when after writing that the manager of the defeated Leinster team “had a face as long as an undertaker’s overcoat” after a sizeable defeat in Cork.
Leinster appear to be building a team capable of recording a grand slam this season, boosted by the additions of RG Snyman and recent signings of Rabah Slimani (France) and Jordi Barrett of New Zealand.
Back to Munster, and with the list of injuries in the camp this weekend is going to be a sticky fixture.
Speaking after the Croker, Rowntree admitted “that these games are not going to be easy for us.”
