Compiled by JOHN O'SULLIVAN
All change
SOME OF the match officials for the Montauban game changed as a result of the gales.
Dave Pearson, the original referee, officiated but the touch judges who were supposed to run the lines, never made it and so Rob Debney – he refereed the Brive match on Thursday – and David Matthews, originally listed as the television match official (TMO) grabbed the flags. David Herbert was asked to combine both his first assignment as referee’s assessor with the duties as television official.
Upgrade at the Toilet Bowl
THE STADE de Sapiac certainly benefited from the renovation of a stand last year but the upgrade didn’t change the name by which it’s known locally: ‘La cuvette,‘ (The toilet bowl). The pitch is surrounded by a banked cycling track (last used in 1969) and the effect means that when it rains the water rushes down it to resemble a toilet bowl.
The “other stand” is an exposed concrete mass where the more passionate local fans gather apart from four standing pens on the cycling track, pretty much the only areas that would be safe for supporters given the hugely steeping banks at both ends.
Postponement helped some
TOULOUSE AIRPORT was closed on Saturday morning due to the gales so hundreds of Munster supporters were left stranded at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, Gatwick in London and sundry others, left with no option but to turn around and head home. One set of fans, on a charter from Cork on the Saturday, were slightly more fortunate, albeit with a longer pilgrimage to see the match.
Their plane was diverted to Limoges, a city about 240 kilometres, from Montauban and a further 50 from Toulouse where some would have been staying. They boarded coaches at Limoges and given the match was postponed had a slightly less fraught dash than they might have envisaged when they landed if the game had gone ahead as scheduled.
MONTAUBAN OFFICIALS showed remarkable prescience given the way the weather turned out when they elected to cancel the corporate hospitality last week several days before the game because of projected weather conditions. Not only did they remove the risk of the marquees being blow over – several trees around the stadium were blown down – but avoided the expense of hiring and not using the temporary corporate facilities.
Expensive weekend for Munster fans
THE STORMS that hit France and northern Spain, forcing Munster’s Heineken Cup match against Montauban to be moved from Saturday afternoon to yesterday, caused not only structural devastation due to 170km an hour winds and rain but also some serious financial hardship for Munster supporters, who were hit in the pocket on several counts.
Many who went on charters had to put their hands in their pockets to pay for an extra night’s accommodation in Toulouse. But there was an even nastier surprise on the morning of the match. The motorways and train lines had been closed on the Saturday but when the emergency was downgraded by the local authorities everyone expected the transport routes to return to normal.
Unfortunately, while the roads opened the debris on tracks had not been fully removed and therefore no trains were running. The taxis – not hugely plentiful on a Sunday morning – had a captive audience and for the pleasure of a 45-minute journey on excellent motorway, supporters had to fork out €120 each way. Given the accommodation and another evening wining and dining coupled with the taxi bill, it was a seriously expensive weekend.
Charity match for anniversary
THIS MONTH marks the 10th anniversary of Ulster’s Heineken Cup final triumph over Colomiers at Lansdowne Road in front of a 49,000-strong crowd. The memorable win came at the end of a cup run that saw Harry Williams’ band of Ulstermen win it the hard way, claiming the scalps of Toulouse and Stade Francais along the way.
As part of the anniversary celebrations, Ulster’s 1999 heroes will be taking to the pitch once more, in an exhibition match to raise money for the rugby charities, the IRFU Charitable Trust and the Wooden Spoon at Shaw’s Bridge, Belfast, on Thursday.
The Heineken Cup winners will be supported by their management team from 1999 including coach Harry Williams. Their opposition, almost 10 years to the day that they defeated Colomiers, will be a Wooden Spoon Select XV, managed by Willie Anderson and made up of former Ulster players and club players from around the North as well as one or two of our friends from the sports media.
The referee will be none other than Wales’ Clayton Thomas, the man who refereed that famous final at Lansdowne Road.
The match, which is sponsored by Kukri Sports, has a 3.30pm kick-off. Admission is £5 (adults and children) with all proceeds going to the two rugby charities, and refreshments will also be available to purchase from the clubhouse.
ULSTER 1999 HEINEKEN CUP WINNERS SQUAD: Justin Fitzpatrick, Gary Leslie, Allen Clarke, Stephen Ritchie, Rab Irwin, Mark Blair, Gary Longwell, Stephen McKinty, Paddy Johns, Andy Ward, Murtagh Rea, Tony McWhirter, Andy Matchett, David Humphreys, Derek McAleese, Andy Park, Jonny Bell, Jan Cunningham, Sheldon Coulter, Simon Mason, Stan McDowell, Bryn Cunningham, Stephen Bell, Derek Topping, Stuart Duncan.
WOODEN SPOON SELECT SQUAD: T Morton, G Mairs (Belfast Telegraph), H McCaughey, L Johnstone, M Neely, R Wilson, J Gunson, B Wilson, K McKee, K Gallick, N Doak, D Spence, R McNamoyle, S Glynn (BBC NI), R Morrow, R Botha, M Field, J Topping, I Orr, B Barrett, R Carey, M Jackson, D Irwin, N Brittain (UTV), R Mulligan (Newsletter).
