FOLLOWING three URC defeats in a row – the worst run for nine years – and the shock departure of head coach Graham Rowntree earlier this week, Munster have an opportunity to lift the spirits of the faithful by achieving the ‘impossible’ with a win over New Zealand at a sold out Thomond Park on Saturday (November 2).
Can they match the victory of 1978 when the Reds held the All Blacks scoreless and, thanks to a try by Christy Cantallon and the boot of Tony Ward, fully deserved their 12-0 win?
Games between the two teams go back to 1905 when the All Blacks played Munster in the Markets Field and recorded a 33-0 victory.
Further clashes followed in 1954 in the Mardyke, 1963 in Thomond Park, 1973 and 1989 in the Mardyke and the latest meeting between the sides was in 2008 in Thomond Park when Barry Murphy scored a superb try at the Ballynanty end, but it was not enough to carve out a win.
The New Zealand squad have been sharing their preparations throughout the city since their arrival in Limerick with training sessions in Garryowen FC grounds, media meetings in the Castletroy Park Hotel, and a Captain’s Run at local headquarters scheduled for Friday.
Their squad is a mix of youth and experience and we can look out for 145kg prop Passilio Tosi, long-serving Sam Cane and the youngest of the travelling party, number eight Peter Lakai.
In fairness to Munster, they put in their best effort last Saturday against the Sharks but they were just out-muscled by a superior force.
Taking just one bonus point from the two match visit to South Africa is disappointing but that final surge in injury time epitomised the ethos of the club.
That late effort did not go unnoticed by head coach Graham Rowntree, who said after the clash that the team had been “chasing our tail in the early stages and the Sharks were using their power game. Once again we were not able to take our chances but there is much credit due to the Academy boys when they came on near the end and I’m pleased with the boys the way they got that score late in the game,” he said.
Rowntree shocked the entire province on Tuesday when he announced his sudden departure, saying that “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Munster working with a very talented group of players and coaches. I would like to thank the wider Munster family for all the support they have shown me in my time here but now is the right stage for my family and I to look forward to a new chapter.”
In the interim, he will be succeeded by the club’s head of rugby operations, Ian Costello.
