Big Trev's verdict on the game

[Proinsias]

Singing the praises of Munster and Red Army

EUROPEAN CUP DIARY: Trevor Brennan recalls last Saturday before
and after Munster's superb Heineken Cup triumph, and Toulouse's
respect for the province's followers.

THE GODS must have known before everybody else. Toulouse on
Saturday was wet and miserable compared to Limerick, which was
sunny and bright. Although Our Lady might have appeared just down
the road from Toulouse in Lourdes, Limerick also has her lady.

Limerick, you're my lady / Your Shannon waters tears of joy that
flow / The beauty that surrounds you / I'll take it with me love where
e'er I roam.

This is not to suggest divine inspiration played the only part in
Munster winning the Heineken Cup, although if you factor in 60,000-
plus supporters, that's enough inspiration to keep any team afloat in
what must have been one of the most fiercely contested finals in the
history of the competition. For either team to have lost would have
been difficult. For the players it was a three-point difference between
devastation and total elation.

Both teams must hold their heads up high for such outstanding
performances in attack and defence; pretty much every aspect of the
game. On the day, Munster took their chances better. Obviously,
both teams had done their homework on each other but even though
Toulouse would have guessed the majority of Jerry Flannery's throws
would have been aimed at Paul O'Connell, they just couldn't get near
him. Toulouse lost a couple of theirs, and Munster made them pay for
that.

The back five of their pack were outstanding and O'Connell probably
had his best game ever in a Munster jersey. He's only played three
games in this season's competition but by God did he come good.

Alan Quinlan, at 33, is playing the best rugby of his career. Himself,
David Wallace and Denis Leamy put massive pressure on Byron
Kelleher. That was a huge factor in Munster's win, the number of
times they stopped him in his tracks or drove him back.

Getting back to what must be the best-supported team in Europe, I
arrived from Blagnac Airport with about 40 others from Toulouse in
Cardiff at about 10.30am to discover the Welsh capital had been
invaded by the Red Army. "Amazing," was the first thought that came
into my head. I led the 40 of us down to the centre of Cardiff and an
Irish bar called O'Neills. When I walked through the door along with
40 other French people wearing the Toulouse colours I'd say there
was the guts of 500 to 600 Munster supporters inside. Chants of
"Mun-ster, Mun-ster," greeted us, and then it was the Toulouse
supporters' turn: "Tou-lou-sain, Tou-lou-sain!"

The banter was good. Ireland's Call was followed by la Marseillaise .
Somebody suggested I sing The Fields of Athenry . So, in the middle
of 500 Munster supporters, I stood up on a table and led the way in a
rendition of The Fields . The French supporters were stunned. We
stayed there for about two hours until we made our way to another
bar across the road called The Munster Bar. I don't know whether it
was just called that for the day. There were more people outside the
bar than inside. More banter. More pints. More songs.

I did a couple of pre-match lunches. The first one seemed to mainly
consist of Leinster supporters and I was taken aback at the number
of people I met there and throughout the day from Leinster, Ulster or
Connacht who had come to support Munster.

The second gig up the road was with Mick Galwey - a two-man show.
Mick spoke about the history of Munster-Toulouse matches. The first
was in 1997 when they were beaten by 60-19 in Toulouse, and swore
afterwards they'd never be beaten by a score like that again. They
resolved after that defeat they had to work harder, whether it be in
the gym or on the training pitch, but Mick said that day was a turning
point for Munster. Three seasons later they met Toulouse in the
semi-finals in Bordeaux and beat them, and they came within a point
of Toulouse in the semi-finals in Toulouse in 2003 when losing 13-12.
Mick reckoned nothing highlights how far Munster have come more
than their three previous results against Toulouse and that it was a
credit to them and their response to that first match. That had been
the wake-up call. Whoever won this final, Mick said, there would only
be a bounce of the ball, a bit of luck or a score in it.

The hardest game I ever played in, whether it was club, provincial,
international or European Cup, was that 2003 semi-final against
Munster. I told Mick, when I think back on it, at the end of that game
I was just totally drained.

Munster have sure come a long way since that drubbing in the 1997-
98 season, and proof of that came when I walked into the stadium
half an hour before the kick-off to see the sea of red.

Speaking to the Toulouse players afterwards, they all talked about
how much that must inspire a team. Knowing Toulouse, when they
have a full house of 20,000 when they're at home, or 37,000 if it's in
le Stadium, it is something that lifts you. Stade did have pockets of
fans amounting to a few thousand who did their best but it was still
like a home match for Munster.

I met up with a few of the boys on Sunday night, and talking to
Thierry Dusautoir - who was on the Biarritz team that lost to Munster
in the Millennium Stadium two years ago - he thought this was an
even bigger occasion. He also told me he wanted to learn the words
to The Fields because he thought it was an amazing rugby anthem. A
couple of the other lads said they could feel the hairs on their arms
tingling during the warm-up, and that few matches had compared to
it, even many internationals.

I stayed on for a good half-hour and hardly a single person left the
stadium for the ceremony; the closed roof, the lights turned off and
Stand Up and Fight being played. But even from the stands I could
see the disappointment on the faces of the Toulouse players after
they were clapped on to the podium by the Munster players, when
they had to stand and watch the Munster celebrations.

I was delighted to see Ronan O'Gara drag Declan Kidney up. As
always, he tried to stay at the other end of the pitch, because he
feels it's the players who deserve the plaudits. Credit to the players,
they ensured he had a good send-off. There's no manager or coach
who will match what he has done for Munster rugby.

Our plane home was delayed for three hours and we didn't get back
to Toulouse until after 3am, and the players were even later. As is
custom after a final, they had to attend a civic reception in le Marie in
Place du Capitole on a wet and miserable Sunday afternoon, and it's
a hard thing to attend after losing.

We all met up on Sunday night and some of the boys were telling me
when they arrived in Cardiff Airport the Munster fans started singing:
"Tou-lou-sain, Tou-lou-sain" and clapped them for 20 minutes. "Total
respect," for the Irish supporters, they said.

Some of the boys tried to imagine the Stade Français or Biarritz
supporters clapping them on arrival in an airport if their team had
just beaten Toulouse earlier. One or two even said it brought a tear
to the eye.

They also couldn't get over the whole experience when Munster fans
broke off in the middle of a song to grant complete silence for the
goal kicks, those by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde as well as O'Gara's. "How
could a stadium of 75,000 people go completely silent, even when
they were in the middle of a song?" If someone lines up a kick in
France, it's accompanied by a backdrop of boos, clapping and
whistling.

Toulouse have four more games before the Top 14 semi-finals, which
they've qualified for, beginning with Brive away next Friday and then
a rearranged game against Perpignan next Tuesday. I said to some
of the boys they'll have to lift themselves like Biarritz did two years
ago, but they were saying how difficult it will be after last Saturday.
If they do make the final, it won't be until June 28th.

It's some season here in France, and that's after a punishing World
Cup, the preparations for which began last June.

(In an interview with Gerry Thornley)

[POL]

unmitigated drivel

[Proinsias]

unmitigated drivel

But he was an SFI hero up until recently.

I don't understand POL, have the SFI abandoned their official policy on trev?

Poor Trevy :(

[Coogee]

unmitigated drivel

a great insight from inside the toulouse camp from Big Trev....

[Arcadia]

Sounds like great craic and respect to the Irish from the French fans and players.

[Proinsias]

Sounds like great craic and respect to the Irish from the French fans and players.

indeed.

And here's a translated article from L'Equipe (not done by me)

The Pride of the Reds

Munster's second European cup win on Saturday in Cardiff was due in no
small measure to its incredible supporters, who will do anything to
follow their idols. This weekend, more than 70,000 of them congregated
in the Welsh capital. They had come from everywhere, Ireland and
elsewhere (New York, even Santiago in Chile), and they fulfilled
wonderfully their role of the 16th man. It was a journey to the heart of
the red army.

Irish by birth, Munster by the grace of God. Wearing freshly printed
scarlet t-shirts, they lingered in the halls of hotels, somehow finding
the strength to raise their elbow, and the words to relive the match of
the day before. Some didn't even get into the stadium due to a lack of
tickets, but they wouldn't have missed the mass migration of the Red
Army to the streets of Cardiff this weekend for anything in the world.
Sixty thousand supporters inside, a few thousand outside in the pubs, in
support of their team. In the very early hours of the following morning,
David Hegarty, gently recovering from the emotions of the day before is
engrossed in reading a report of the game in 'Wales one Sunday': "It's
an extraordinary moment for the people of Munster. Different to the
final of two years ago against Biarritz, less intense but just as
sweet." He says. David is an accountant in Cork, he proudly shows his
membership card; the official one of the 16th man, member of Red Army
and finally his Munster credit card! His Welsh escapade cost him more
than 1,000 euros, "plus a few pints", he adds with a smile. "If you were
to come to Cardiff next week it would cost you 50 euros. This weekend
was 500 euros return!". It doesn't matter, it's worth making some
sacrifices to support Munster. "Sacrifices? Not at all, explains
Patrick, a greying sixty year old. Above all else, it's a pleasure." He
considers himself to be a poor farmer from near Limerick. His friends
hasten to say that he was in the best seats in the house. "He is Paul O'
Connell's uncle". Thus, the look of pride on his face.

A historical attachment

To understand everything, it is necessary to look back on the history of
Ireland. In times gone by when the whole country made fun of this rugged
area, devastated by successive crises, populated by peasants with
incomprehensible accents. "Here, rugby constitutes revenge, explains
John, a maintenance worker in Shannon airport. It's a way of making
ourselves known. Whereas we could feel rejected by a part of Ireland, it
unites us. " Fifty years later, neither Cork nor Limerick bear any
resemblance to those dirty cities of yesteryear. New buildings appear
like mushrooms, symbols of an economic revival driven by the euros of
Brussels. Rugby also benefited from the revival. Fortified by its 10,000
members, and its 200,000 sold shirts, the province of Munster is on
solid ground, solid enough to attract players like Christian Cullen
three years ago, and Doug Howlett this year, the leading try-scorer of
all time for the All-Blacks. "Today, thanks to this second European cup,
we are second only behind Toulouse (3 titles), says David. The key
moment of our history was the semi-final of 2000 in Bordeaux against
Toulouse. On that day, everyone fell in love with this team."

The Munster style of play is made in the image of its people, rugged,
bitter in combat, effective. "Ok this is perhaps not the idea of Rugby
for French people, analyzes John but it's one that suits us. It enabled
us to escape from the most difficult pool (with Wasps, Llanelli and
Clermont), to win our quarterfinal (in Gloucester) and our semi-final
(in Saracens) all away from home. We won the final in Cardiff. Against
such a great Toulouse side it was necessary to fight and push ourselves
right to our limits to win." And should we wish to challenge Munster on
the style of play in the last quarter of an hour of the match during
which the Irishmen confiscated the ball through the use of endless pick
and goes, he asks us to look at it from the other point of view "Frankly
wouldn't you have done the same thing? It avoided making 60,000 people
in the stadium depressed..." and many others on the other side of the
sea in Ireland.

The 16th man

Denis Leamy, back row gave everything for Munster, his face marked by
the hardness of the contest, recognized that towards the end of the
match that the team had been carried by the encouragements of the
supporters. "To feel these people behind us, to hear them sing
transcended us and allowed us to go and seek those extra little bits
that allowed us to hold on to this victory." Leamy, like O' Gara, O'
Connell or John Hayes celebrated prop of 34 years of age who has decided
to prolong his career by an additional year, Anthony Foley, holder of
the record number of matches played in the European Cup (86) who put an
end to its career recently, all the children of Munster. Players who do
not imagine themselves playing elsewhere. "It is one of the bases of
this team. It is integrated perfectly into society, explains David. The
players all live in Cork or Limerick. We see them every day as everyday
people. The supporters have an enormous respect for them and that
respect is reciprocated. " For this reason, The fields of Anthery, the
anthem of Munster could be heard all through the night in the streets of
Cardiff and even more so on O'Connell Street in Limerick. For this
reason, the bright red t-shirts which honour the biggest wins of
Munster: All Blacks 1978, Biarritz 2006, Toulouse 2008 are worn so
proudly. Irish by birth, Munster by the grace of God.

[POL]

But he was an SFI hero up until recently.

I don't understand POL, have the SFI abandoned their official policy on trev?

Poor Trevy :(Obviously Thornley has used a bit of creative license here, The Unnecessary hyping up of the Munstershire/Stade Limerique "Greatest supporters in the world" theme is obvious

[Arcadia]

Obviously Thornley has used a bit of creative license here, The Unnecessary hyping up of the Munstershire/Stade Limerique "Greatest supporters in the world" theme is obvious

Has L'Equipe done the same ?

Good reviews for Munster players and supporters only has to be good for the country ?

[Proinsias]

Obviously Thornley has used a bit of creative license here, The Unnecessary hyping up of the Munstershire/Stade Limerique "Greatest supporters in the world" theme is obvious
Which parts exactly don't you agree with?

Where do you reckon Thornley was making stuff up?

[POL]

Which parts exactly don't you agree with?

Where do you reckon Thornley was making stuff up?its not like a Rugby Journalist make things up is it! :lol!: Poor Prionsiasy, brainwashed again, stick on "the fields of athenrique" there again and remind yourself that you are the greatest fans in the world

[Lamps]

I love the way the jocks think that the SFI endorse every word from Big Trev and Franno. Schoolboy error.

And Frank, don't be crying in an hour or two that the SFI are overunning the forum, you just came looking for a scrap first thing of a Friday morning

[POL]

I love the way the jocks think that the SFI endorse every word from Big Trev and Franno. Schoolboy error.

And Frank, don't be crying in an hour or two that the SFI are overunning the forum, you just came looking for a scrap first thing of a Friday morning
focking hilarious, just like the way that simpleton pointy though we were going to defend drink driving yesterday! FFS

[Proinsias]

I love the way the jocks think that the SFI endorse every word from Big Trev and Franno. Schoolboy error.

And Frank, don't be crying in an hour or two that the SFI are overunning the forum, you just came looking for a scrap first thing of a Friday morning

Naw, I just thought I'd point out the French perspective on all of this, that this image of Munster as a brand isn't necessarily what others think of Munster.

But yes, I will complain if there's more wittering spam, cause it's tedious.

[Rebel Yell]

Naw, I just thought I'd point out the French perspective on all of this, that this image of Munster as a brand isn't necessarily what others think of Munster.

But yes, I will complain if there's more wittering spam, cause it's tedious.

Ah, come on..it would be boring round here without Statler and Waldorf spewing bile at everything good concerning Munstershire...

[Comeretamebubbilah]

Munster 16 Toulouse 13: Munster Cup glory built on base of power before grace
By Chris Hewett in Cardiff
Monday, 26 May 2008
There was nothing shameful about a union aficionado enjoying the way Dean Richards played his rugby, despite the fact that the Great Shambling Bear spent much of his career single-handedly ensuring that the ball never saw the light of day. However, the No 8's own mother might have drawn the line at picking 15 Deanos in the same side, and as Munster, champions of Europe for a second time, give the impression of basing their entire philosophy on the Gospel According to Saint Deano, it cannot be a barrel of laughs watching them every week.
On the other hand, mere fun is a lot less fun than winning – and my, how Munster have mastered the art of winning. When Guy Noves, the coach of Toulouse, sought to explain his side's narrow defeat in the 13th Heineken Cup final by stating that the Irish province had "known exactly what they needed to do", it was not obvious whether he was congratulating the victors on their perspicacity or damning them for the mean-minded narrowness of their vision. Perhaps he was doing both. After all, the French know more than anyone about playing like angels while supping with the devil.
Neither was Noves wholly positive on the subject of the Welsh referee, Nigel Owens, who had controlled no fewer than four of Munster's previous contests in this season's tournament, each and every one of which had gone the way of – er – Munster. These included important pool-stage wins over Clermont Auvergne and Wasps, a thoroughly persuasive quarter-final success at Gloucester and a rather less impressive semi-final victory over Saracens. Owens was not noticeably lopsided in his decision making on Saturday evening, but the Toulouse hierarchy felt justified in raising the issue even so.
Needless to say, a member of Noves' after-match audience then raised it with Declan Kidney, the Munster coach, who suffered something of a sense of humour failure. Kidney accused his interlocutor of "questioning the referee's integrity", which was rather daft in a "let's shoot the messenger" kind of way. Once he had calmed down, he praised his opposite number as "a man I'd look up to, because Toulouse play with a flair and a passion I'd like to bring to a team of mine". There is little doubt that Munster have the passion already. The flair? The good folk of Cork and Limerick would be well advised not to hold their collective breath.
Yet it is far too simplistic to portray events in Cardiff as a triumph of darkness over light, for the Toulouse performance was seriously flawed. They had a desperate time of it at the line-out – even with the Argentine rock Patricio Albacete and the elastic Jean Bouilhou sharing the ball-winning duties, they messed up badly – and having survived the mother and father of a Munster assault by forcing Denis Leamy into a knock-on at the line, they failed to clear their lines from the resulting five-metre scrum and allowed the No 8 to wrestle a try for himself at the second attempt. This, agreed Noves, was a pivotal moment.
And then there was the discipline – or rather, Fabien Pelous and his lack of discipline. The grand old lock has been known to spit his dummy on occasion, and when he responded to some sly aggression from Alan Quinlan by booting him up the jacksie, the inevitable yellow card was not long in coming. While Pelous was off the field, Toulouse scored a blinder of a try through Yves Donguy, courtesy of the spellbinding Cédric Heymans; within five minutes of returning, Pelous plonked himself on the wrong side of a ruck and presented Ronan O'Gara with what proved to be the winning penalty. Well played, Fabien. A captain's knock if ever there was one.
"It was a real shame to react like that at my age," remarked Pelous of his tangle with Quinlan. "He stamped on my foot, and I retaliated. It is true that I lost my head a little." For "a little", read "a lot". People have been queueing to kick Quinlan's backside for many a long year – the blind-side flanker is courageous, effective and profoundly irritating in equal measure – but there is a time and a place. The time is not at the tipping point of an evenly contested Heineken Cup final. The place is not smack in front of a touch judge.
If the most beautiful attacking rugby came from Toulouse – Heymans' chip-and-gather routine in the build-up to Donguy's try was sublime – Munster's ability to win ugly was always evident once they put a scratchy opening 20 minutes behind them.
"People will look at that and say it wasn't the fanciest, but for pure attrition and work rate, our performance was right up there," said the winning captain, Paul O'Connell, whose impersonation of the great Martin Johnson would have been uncannily accurate but for the application of certain skills Johnson never went close to learning.
O'Connell now joins Ryan Jones of Wales as a major contender for the captaincy of the British and Irish Lions in South Africa next summer. Meanwhile, Kidney leaves Munster on the most stratospheric of highs to succeed Eddie O'Sullivan as Ireland's coach.
"You have good days and tough days in sport," he said. "Even Tiger Woods has more second-place finishes than first-place finishes. Mick Galwey [the revered Munster lock of yore] said ages ago that we'd have to lose a Heineken Cup final to win one. As it turned out, we had to lose two to win two."
A third title next year? The odds are against it – only Leicester have staged a successful defence, and the field has strengthened a good deal since 2002 – but as Dean Richards used to say, you'll always have a chance if you stick the ball up your jumper and keep it there.
Munster: Try Leamy; Conversion O'Gara; Penalties O'Gara 3; Toulouse: Try Donguy; Conversion Elissalde; Penalty Elissalde; Drop goal Elissalde.
Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett, R Tipoki. L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan (T Buckley, 67-80), J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt; M O'Driscoll, 60-63), A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy.
Toulouse: C Heymans; M Médard, M Kunavore, Y Jauzion, Y Donguy (M Ahotaeiloa, 78); J-B Elissalde, B Kelleher; D Human, W Servat, S Perugini (J-B Poux, 57), F Pelous (capt), P Albacete (R Millo-Chlusky, 64), J Bouilhou (G Lamboley, 64), T Dusautoir (Y Nyanga, 40), S Sowerby.
Referee: N Owens (Wales).