Millennium cauldron won't faze Tipoki

MUNSTER'S ABILITY to inculcate the ethos of the province's proud rugby history in new recruits is well documented and remains a central plank of their success in the Heineken European Cup over the past decade.

While the umbilical link between team and supporters is easily understood by its constituents, the subtle wooing process for overseas players is no less effective.

New Zealand-born centre Rua Tipoki is just another player to have been charmed by his new environment, so much so that he will boast the same steely determination as any Munster native when it comes to Saturday's European Cup final against Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium.

Every day is a reminder of what this match means to the local community from the moment he drops his children off at school, where he is greeted by well-wishers young and old. The match dominates their verbal horizons.

Comparisons may indeed be odious but in the time-honoured tradition, any player who has experience of the Super 14 (and of its predecessor, the Super 12) and European rugby's premier club tournament is invited to offer a comparison.

Tipoki played in a Super 12 semi-final, losing against the Crusaders, but that match coupled with travelling to South Africa and facing packed, hostile arenas means the Kiwi won't be fazed by Saturday's occasion.

As he offers himself: "It is definitely going to be different having a stadium packed out with our red shirts.

"Big games are the same (everywhere). The atmosphere ensures that it's a cauldron (out on the pitch). This weekend is going to be no different and we will have most of the stadium cheering for us. I have played in stadiums in South Africa where they have been baying for your blood."

One of the first things he did on arrival in Ireland was to watch a DVD of Munster's 2006 European triumph and it's whetted the appetite.

He employed it as a motivational tool for the season as the team inched closer to the Millennium Stadium showdown.

Munster's recent form, or more pointedly, a few defeats in the Magners League, is not something that troubles Tipoki, who argues: "Looking back on our season the times we have played badly, we have gone back to the drawing board and sorted a lot of problems out.

"Hopefully we have managed to do that again. We are just going to have to; otherwise we will be in for the shock of our lives."

There seems little chance of the latter happening for a team whose coach Declan Kidney's attention to detail is legendary.