Another great weekend as Munster played jester with Harlequins Heineken Cup ambitions

7^th April 2013

Harlequins         12

Munster              18

When the final games in the group stage of the Heineken Cup took place back in January, and when Munster secured a home bonus point win against Racing Metro, supporters were relieved that the men in red had scraped through to the quarter finals as the eight and final seed.  They would therefore be paired away to Harlequins in the quarter finals of the competition.  Harlequins had cruised through their group, finished top seeds overall and the popular view was that Rob Penney’s men would be very much up against it.

I always felt however that this was probably the best draw that Munster could have got considering their final seeding.  Better anyway than a trip to France to face the heavyweights Clermont Auvergne or Toulon in their own hostile backyard.  And looking at Harlequins group campaign, all respect to Biarritz, Connacht and Zebre, but would the competitiveness of this group stand up to scrutiny?

On this basis I booked my flights to London with a tinge of excitement in my stomach and a belief that this could be another one of Munster’s many great away days.  Kerry airport to London Stanstead with good old Ryanair.  Alas, it was too much to expect that all would run smoothly.  A month before the due date of flight an e-mail came through that the flight out to London had been put back by 4 hours.  Instead of getting in to Stanstead at 7pm we would now be getting in at 11pm.  And then the long journey in to London itself.  Great!!

The search for tickets to the game started as slowly as a James Reilly speech on health reform.  Yet again tickets would be as scarce as hens teeth they said.  Funny then that they began to surface at a rate of knots on the week of the game.  Thanks to my own contacts I was set and raring to go.

However, my confidence was seriously dented when, aside from Munster’s patchy Rabo Pro 12 form coming up to it, they were massacred by Glasgow in Scotstown a week previously and any lingering hopes of snatching a place in the play offs of the Rabo Pro 12 were evaporated.  Crumbs of comfort were dispatched that historically Munster’s league form was always poor in the week leading in to a big Heineken Cup knock out game.  As much as I wanted to believe it, my resolve was being tested.  

Getting over the change in the time of the flight, Kerry Airport is an experience in itself.  What more does one need than the bar being feet from the security checks and a coffee dock and airport shop a further few feet the other side in the boarding area.  The flight itself was uneventful but the landing was as subtle as the North Koreans and their nuclear weapon testing!  And boy was it cold in London.

We made our way to Richmond and checked in to hear of the try fest in Adams Park where Ian Madigan and co had put Wasps to the sword.  Would there be a sting in the tail for Ulster and Munster or could they fly the Irish flag for the remainder of the weekend.

After an early start on Saturday, and of course after a wholesome breakfast, well a full English, it was time to get in the mood for the big game ahead.  What better way than another look at the famous 1973 Barbarians v’s All Blacks game at Cardiff Arms Park.  Gareth Edwards sublime 2^nd minute try is worth looking at over and over again.  What started with Phil Bennett retreating towards his own posts, 2 sidesteps later and through the hands of John Williams, Derek Quinnell and Edwards was diving over in the corner.  And what about the commentary and the famous words “What can touch a man like that?” and “If the greatest writer of the written word would have written that story, nobody would have believed it”.  They were the good old days.  No reset scrums, tap penalties and wingers throwing in to lineouts.  Maybe the IRB should take a look once more, particularly when it comes to the drawn out affair that scrum time has become today.

Contented with my rugby fix it was now time to fulfil the tourist duties in a city with so many landmarks to take in.  Knightsbridge, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Kew Gardens, it was tourist central with the queues as long as those outside a dole office on a Thursday morning.

Not a bad days work, and after dinner, next on the agenda was the Chiswick Moran Hotel where a Munster Q & A session was taking place sponsored by the Munster Supporters Club in London.  In attendance were coach Rob Penney, injured skipper Doug Howlett, second row Billy Holland and winger Johne Murphy.  The answers given by the players themselves raised many a laugh in the packed attendance but there was a hushed silence when the mic was given over to coach Penney himself.  Forthright answers were given to questions on CJ Stander’s omission from the Heineken Cup Squad, Peter Stringer’s request for first team rugby and Penney’s much debated game plan and how Munster fans are not used of having lock forwards hogging the touchline waiting for the ball to be sprayed out to them.  Once over there was a rousing reception for the coach and players as they departed to their rooms and prepared themselves for the following days action.  There was still time however for coach Anthony Foley to mingle with the crowd and down a few pints of the black stuff.

The Caggage Patch pub in Twickenham was the meeting point for all Munster supporters on the day of the game.  With the Gods looking down, the sun shone and the atmosphere was very jovial as fans reminisced on previous great away trips and how the men in red would perform.  Having been well watered we headed off on the short trip to the Twickenham Stoop.  In the shadows of the Twickenham Stadium, the Stoop was a very well laid out ground itself, with easy access and with even a playground on the walk to the ground.  A great day out for all the family!

The roar that greeted both teams as they ran on to the pitch was electrifying.  It was a perfect day for rugby with no wind to disrupt matters.  Munster started off tentatively and when they were penalised at the first scrum, kiwi Nick Evans gave the home side the lead.  Munster responded immediately, and after good work by Tommy O’Donnell from the restart, Quins were penalised but O’Gara’s effort came back off the upright and a let off for the home side.

Munster were dominant in the lineout but once more their scrum was under pressure and they were penalised again in the 14^th min but fortunately Evans shanked his kick and the score remained 3-0.  However, he made amends shortly after when the visitors were penalised for not releasing and the lead was pushed out to 6-0.

O’Connell’s lineout work and overall leadership was the standout feature of the game now, and with Munster doing good work on the ground, especially through Tommy O’Donnell, O’Gara’s radar was on the mark in the 26^th minute to reduce the deficit to 6-3.  Evans responded after Munster were penalised at scrum time once more and they should have possibly extended the lead further but scrum half Danny Care was a bit over enthusiastic with a quick penalty and he was penalised for holding on.  O’Connell’s brilliant juggling impersonation gave Munster the opportunity to reduce the deficit before the half time break and O’Gara made no mistake to leave the score 9-6 in favour of the home side.

On chatting to other fans during the half time break the general view was that Munster had done very well to quell the expected explosive start from the home side and as the half went on it looked like they were getting the measure of the home side.  A try by either side in the second half could be the difference particularly if the kicking duel between Evans and O’Gara continued.  Was a victory for the Quins mascot over his Munster counterpart during the half time break a sign of things to come?

Munster’s power play in the first ten minutes of the second half was probably the winning of the game.  The drive and desire to win was epitomised no more than by Peter O’Mahoney during that phase of the game and particularly his steal from the clutches of Quins second row George Robson on their own lineout.  Quickfire penalties by O’Gara in the 42^nd, 45^th and 47^th minutes saw Munster leap in to a 15-9 lead and the home side were clearly rattled.

The men in red now went for the jugular and after great work by Downey on one side, Lualala was unlucky that his final pass did not go to hand with the try line yawning.  They continued to pressurise the home side however and were rewarded once more in the 57^th min when O’Gara extended their lead to 18-9 with a further penalty.

The home fans rendition of the Mighty Quin were becoming few and far between at this juncture as they were being drowned out by the substantial Munster following and the Fields of Athenry and Stand Up and Fight in full voice.  Evans reduced the deficit with a further penalty in the 68^th minute after Quins first clean line break of the second half and the score now stood with Munster ahead by 18-12.

Try as Quins might they could not get either the territory or the field position in the final ten minutes that would give them the opportunity of a converted try to pull this game out of the fire.  Due to a combination of Munster working their choke tackle efficiently and an almost manic desire that their season was not going to end here, they withstood all that Quins could throw at them and Conor Murray gleefully kicked to touch and the mighty men in red had done it.

O’Connell’s excellence is almost taken for granted but he was a very deserving Man of the Match.  Tommy O Donnell was also instrumental at nullifying Quins at source and James Downey was very effective, his brick wall tackle on a scampering Mike Brown in the second half a standout feature.

We retreated to the Cabbage Patch where the joyous Munster fans basked in another great away day victory.  How we have been spoiled with these! We discussed the winning and losing of the game in the William Webb Ellis pub with a group of Quins fans and they even bought us a round of sambuka for our troubles! Maybe they weren’t being so generous after all!! It is onwards now to a semi final meeting with raging favourites Clermont Auvergne in the semi finals in the sunny south of France in Montpellier.  As Paul O’Connell said in his post match interview Clermont will be delighted to be meeting Munster and not Harlequins.  We have been here before.  The mind games have begun.  Who’s taking the horse to France?    

Mourinho - saying it as it is!

“Please don’t call me arrogant but I am European Champion and I think I’m a special one”

The famous words of Jose Mourinho at the Chelsea press conference in the summer of 2004 where he was unveiled as the pensioner’s new manager.  Like him or loathe him, Mourinho is an eccentric character and who will forget his dance down the touchline at Old Trafford earlier that year when his unfancied and almost unknown Porto side knocked the aristocrats Manchester United out of the Champions League on the away goals rule with a last minute equaliser.   Mourinho had arrived.

“I like this Mourinho guy.  He is a good looking guy.  He takes after me”

The words of the late Brian Clough who himself had broken down the barriers of the stereotypical manager in the English game.  Fullsome praise indeed.

Mourinho is a thoughtful but fearless character.  His abrasive style has helped all the teams that he has managed.

“I am Jose Mourinho and I don’t change.  I arrive with all my qualities and my defects”

Mourinho brought immediate and continued success to Chelsea during his five year reign and his legacy there could be best summed up as follows:

“I hate to speak about individuals.  Players don’t win you trophies, teams win trophies, squads win trophies”

Questions were asked originally as to whether Mourinho’s lack of experience as a player at the top level would come against him.  The old fox himself Alex Ferguson best answered this question when he said

“The marvellous strong personality of Mourinho bridges the gap between someone who was not a top player becoming a top coach”

And Mourinho made it clear in no uncertain terms that there were no outside influences in his team selection during his reign at Stamford Bridge:

“If Roman Abramovich helped me out in training we would be bottom of the league and if I had to work in his world of big business, we would be bankrupt!”

However, the sparkle that was so prominent during the majority of Mourinho’s reign at Chelsea began to turn to sourness towards the end.  It was best summed up in the following quote which summed up his frustration with the tightening of the transfer market purse strings:

"The style of how we play is very important. But it is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. So when the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem."      

Addio England, Chiao Italy!  It was now time for a new challenge for the special one and how he took up that challenge with Inter Milan.  A treble of Seria A, Italian Cup and Champions League was as unexpected as it was historic.  The siege mentality at the Nou Camp in the semi final second leg against Barcelona and the dancing on to the pitch once more at the final whistle in jubilation with the water sprinklers going off around him.  Jose was a lot more than an interpreter in Catalunia now. However, his fractured relationship with the football authorities in Europe was highlighted at the end of that season with FIFA awarding him Coach of the Year for 2010 but UEFA awarded him nothing.

With nothing more to prove in Italy it was time for pastures new once more and the Real Madrid job gave him the opportunity to not only manage one of the most famous clubs in the world but also in his own words gave him “an opportunity to knock Barcelona off their perch”

“The moral of the story is not to listen to those who tell you not to play the violin but stick to the tambourine”

With a club like Real Madrid Mourinho had followed his words and was certainly reaching to play the violin.  And in 2012 he became the first manager to win league titles in England, Italy and Spain when his Madrid side broke Barcelona’s stranglehold on the La Liga title.  The perception now is that not winning the Champions League title with Real will be seen as a black mark against him.  With their passage to the semi finals almost guaranteed after their first leg victory over Galatassary, will they have a better opportunity of achieving this success than in the current campaign?

“The world is so competitive, aggressive, consumive, selfish and during the time we spend here we must be all but that.”

Mourinho has shown all these traits in his managerial career to date but when asked what his biggest strength is he stated defiantly “Love for my family.  That is the engine of everything”

“So I know all about the ups and downs of football, I know that one day I will be sacked.”

The saying goes that being forewarned is being forearmed.  And accepting that one day he will be sacked Mourinho, as only Mourinho can, defiantly answered the following question:

What keeps you awake at night?

Nothing – I sleep perfect!