ON RUGBY: Last Saturday Edmund Van Esbeck had the very good fortune to be in Thomond Park to see the final of the Munster Senior Cup between Shannon and Young Munster. It was a great contest in the very best traditions of this great old competition.
Those who have suggested that the Munster Cup is dead should have been at this match. It embraced so many of the qualities that has made the competition famous for well over a century. A passionate crowd of 4,000, total commitment to the cause, dramatic content and, in the end, victory for the All Ireland champions, Shannon.
With the match in injury time they trailed 17-14 and the man of the match, Tom Cregan, kicked a penalty from over 60 yards to put the match into extra time. Cregan then went on to win it for Shannon with two penalty goals in extra time and had the distinction of scoring all of Shannon's 23 points. Yet one had to feel for Young Munster who gave their all and just fell short.
This weekend, of course, the match on every Munster followers mind - and indeed on the minds of most Irish rugby followers - is the final of the Heineken European Cup at the Millennium Stadium Cardiff tomorrow.
What prompted me to refer back to events at Thomond Park last Saturday was the fact that the cup final embraced so many of the characteristics that we have come to admire in the Munster team.
The vast majority of them were honed on that ethic and how well it has stood to them during their exploits in the Heineken Cup over the last four years.
Last Saturday yet again it was Shannon who came out best in a 50-50 situation, as the club has done so often in the past. We have seen Munster do the very same, show the depth of character, will and belief to win matches that could have gone the other way.
A man who has been at Munster coach Declan Kidney's side throughout Munster's Heineken Cup campaigns over the last four years, forwards coach Niall O'Donovan, is a man who understands the Shannon and Munster ethic better than most. He inherited it from his late father, a Shannon stalwart and a member of the first Shannon team to win the Munster Senior Cup.
As a player and a coach, Niall has been at the heart of so many Shannon triumphs. He is not a man to seek the limelight, that is not in his nature.
As he helps to prepare Munster for the final tomorrow, O'Donovan believes the experience Munster gained two years ago in the final against Northampton is something that will now help Munster.
"Sometimes you have to lose before you learn to win, " he said. "It can all be part of the learning process. We learned some very telling lessons in several respects two years ago when we lost to Northampton by a point. We know, however unlucky we may have been in some respects that day, certain mistakes were made. We are now applying ourselves to avoiding making similar mistakes."
When the Heineken Cup was inaugurated in 1995 in rather humble circumstances compared to the competition it has become, it was basically a learning process for all the clubs and personnel involved. It was Ulster who made the initial breakthrough from an Irish perspective, Subsequent to that Ulster win in 1999, it is the Munster side that has carried the Irish flag to the knock out stages, with Leinster making it to the quarter-finals this season.
NOTHING has been more impressive than the manner in which the Munster side has come to terms with what is required to win in France. Having lost away to Castres in the inaugural season, and then to Toulouse, Bourgoin, Perpignan and Colomiers over the following seasons, Munster put their experiences on French soil to very good use.
They beat Colomiers away in 1999-2000, then scored that memorable win over Toulouse in Bordeaux in the 2000 semi-final, beat Castres away last season, lost by a point to Stade Français in the semi-final and this season beat Stade Français in Paris and, of course, Castres in Beziers a few weeks ago in the semi-final. I think that illustrates in a telling manner the point Niall O'Donovan made about learning from mistakes and experience.
Munster also know what is needed to win on English soil, having beaten Harlequins this season at the Stoop Memorial Ground and two years ago, Saracens at Welford Road. Dean Richards, the Leicester director of rugby, is quoted as saying "Munster will freeze". I think that the wish is father to the thought as far as those sentiments are concerned. There is no reason why Munster should freeze and their track record surely indicates that will not happen.
What Munster must not do is allow Leicester to bully them as they do so many teams. Munster must match them physically, as Llanelli did not just once this season, but three times, twice in the group matches, and in the semi-final. A good start would be invaluable to Munster for they will not want to be playing catch up from an early stage. There is enough experience and resilience in this Munster team to avoid that.
I also expect Leicester to target the Munster half backs. Leicester wanted a Southern hemisphere referee, I bet they did, it would suit their back row admirably. The referee is Frenchman Joel Jutge. He carries a heavy responsibility.
Three weeks ago I had the immense joy of being in the Millennium Stadium to see a team in red and white score a great victory in the FA Cup final.
Tomorrow let us hope that another team in red and white will be triumphant.
What a farewell that will be for Declan Kidney, Niall O'Donovan and Peter Clohessy and a reward for the best supporters in the game.
This Munster team has given us many great days and memories and a huge amount to this competition, they deserve a better reward than to be remembered as nearly men. The crowning glory could be at hand.
