There was a great atmosphere in Thomond Park on for the derby game between Munster and Leinster on Saturday evening. For Leinster, this was their best chance to defend their Magners League title. For Munster, it was a chance to pull away from their nearest rivals. For both teams, the most important thing was to get through the match free from injury, in advance of the Heineken Quarter finals next week-end.
I drove down to Limerick on Saturday afternoon. John and his fellow Leinster supporter, Paul travelled down with me - for them it was their first trip to Thomond. We arrived down in plenty of time. We left Dublin at 4 and were parked and inside the ground by 6.45 - very comfortable for a 7.30 kick off. The game was a complete sell-out and there was a great atmosphere in the ground as the teams warmed up on the pitch. The Celtic Tenors were there to provide the pre-match entertainment. They sang that Limerick anthem "There is an Isle" and were joined by songwriter Pete St John for a great rendition of "The Fields of Athenry". There was a strong Leinster contingent just beside where I was sitting and they were pretty vocal throughout. But the Munster fans easily made the most noise.
Munster V Leinster, Thomond Park, Uploaded by M+MD.
Leinster were the better team for much of first half. They were far superior to Munster in the breakdown. But Munster went in at half time 6-0 up with O'Gara scoring 2 penalties and Contepomi was seriously off form missing all of his kicks on goal.
That's a Second Row Forward!, Uploaded by M+MD.
In the second half Munster began to get the upper hand. First with 2 more penalties and then with a great try from Keith Earls, bringing the score to 17-0. Then D'Arcy scored a well worked try. Then Shane Horgan made a second defensive error to let Barry Murphy pass him on the wing and set up an easy pass to put substitute Fogarty over for a final try. That was it, game over, with the final score 22-5.
The biggest surprise of the night was Contepomi's failure to get even one kick over the bar. As an Argentinien and Leinster player each miss was gleefully applauded by the Thomond crowd! Rocky Elstrom was easily the best Leinster player but RoG was man of the match. Elstrom almost got in for a second consolation try at the end, but Stringer who had just come on as a sub appeared out of nowhere and toppled him.
That pretty much secures the Magners League for Munster. They have Scarlets Connaught and Ospreys at home and Cardif Blues away from home. Ospreys are the only real danger left in the Magners League, but they have to play both Munster and Scarlets away from home.
Bull Hayes replaced, Uploaded by M+MD.
The competition for places on both teams for next week-end will be intense. The Munster supporters behind me were roaring at the ref to blow up full-time for nearly ten minutes at the end of the game. They were worried about an injury to Bull Hayes. Buckley replaced the Bull in the 67th minute but Buckley had to go off again, injured, after just 4 minutes. Munster had no choice but to Hayes bring back on. This problem the only weak point in the Munster set up. If Buckley is back fit for next week-end it will relieve many worried Munster fans.
It was a late drive back to Dublin but the roads are getting better and we were all home before 1pm.
Next week-end we have a very busy Easter Sunday. First up at 1.00 is the Heineken Quarter-final between Munster and Ospreys. That is followed by the Quarter-final between Harlequins and Leinster in London. After the rugby is all settled we get the final day of the Masters in Augusta. Even if there is no Irishman in contention the return of Tiger will almost certainly be under discussion. We also have the final round matches of the National Football League to be settled that afternoon.
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