EUROPEAN CUP DIARY: Trevor Brennanrecalls 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)
