News:Thoughts from the Chron 15th April
By Chris Gleadell
April 16 2010
It's Tuesday afternoon and as I sit here on the Dublin bound train writing this on the first leg of my trip home to blighty, on reflection, and of course barring the result, I have to say what a great weekend it was for all those of a Saintly persuasion that headed out to the west of Ireland.
Thoughts from the Chron
15th April 2010
Travelling from England overnight last week I arrived in Limerick just as the city was beginning to awake on Friday morning. Already you could spot the odd Saints shirt ambling about and that number was to steadily increase over the next twenty four hours or so till in my estimation there were well over three thousand of us in town by kick off.
For sure the Red Army outnumbered us by around seven or eight to one at Thomond Park, and having not seen the television replay I cannot comment on how Sky portrayed it, but from an eye witness view I would say we made a very good account of ourselves.
Perhaps that was even more evident in the lead up to the game around the city centre. With us being the ‘holidaymakers’ making the most of the unexpected spring sunshine there was a real festival feel to the day about proceedings. That atmosphere built as the day went on especially along the banks of the Shannon outside the waterside bars. At Munster legend Peter Clohessy’s place you might have wondered who exactly the home side were as a large number of Saints fans built up from late morning onwards along the waterfront, not only soaking up those rays but a fair amount of Arthur Guinness’s finest into the bargain too. By mid afternoon this area was awash with the free issue flag waving Gold, Black and Green support bursting into song every now and then much to the bemusement of the locals.
THE FLAGS
As for those flags well perhaps they deserve a special mention of their own. Whoever though of and funded them deserves a medal, it was an inspired idea. Not only did it give a focal point for all Saints in the ground who due to the ticket allocation were on the whole consigned to the backs and corners of the main stands but in some respects they also won over some hearts in Limerick in a small way.
By Saturday evening those flags were everywhere and not just in the hands of Saints supporters. From buildings, bridges, passing cars and just about anywhere else that would take a flagpole the Saints banners were flying. For a town traditionally painted red it was good to see our presence felt. In other sports that be seen as incitement to the home support but fair play to the Munster folk they took it in good humour and even joined in. You could not help but notice the number of people that night that had one of our flags in their possession be in draped over Munster shirted shoulders, round their waist or worn as a scarf to be taken home as a memento of the day.
Even as I walked around the city this morning a full four days after the game some of the flags were still in evidence. Some still there because people had risked life and limb getting them to lofty heights but others, including a couple in private home windows, just their because of the impression we made and the sporting atmosphere that surrounded the weekend both on and off the pitch. So well done to the club for supplying them not only as a means to an end at the game but in some way turning small corners of some red hearts gold, black and green.
THE NIGHT
That general bonhomie between supporters, and no doubt in the locals case greatly enhanced by the result, lasted long, perhaps too long, into the night too. Just about every bar I passed from the ground back to the city was a mixture of Munster and Saint mingling and making the most of the balmy (or should that be barmy) evening. Initially I headed back to Clohessy’s and to say the place was heaving was an understatement. However with a first class bar service it was always easy to get served, the only problem was actually getting to the bar in a Saints shirt. Just about everyone in red wanted to stop you shake your hand, slap you on the back, or in some cases hug you, commiserate and give you their take on the game. That’s all well and good and you cannot for a minute doubt the sincerity of the Munster guys and gals but try doing that while balancing three pints of the black stuff, a near impossibility.
Even Shane Williams would have trouble weaving that defence so after a couple of hours we decided to head further into the city and meet up with friends made in January in Flannery’s on Shannon Street. The atmosphere was no less friendly but in less crowded surroundings we finally got to talk about the game at leisure (more of which later) before the inevitable rounds of singing started and a wandering party which drifted from bar to bar for the next few hours picking up a few more characters on the way. “Heres the deal” said one man from Cork Constitution, “you don’t sing Oh When The Saints’ and we won’t sing Athenry”. It was suprising what songs people come up given that criteria and i’d like to apologise to Johnny Cash’s family profusely for my offering but the revelry went on till the Saturday night ended not long before the sun came up on the Sunday in our hotel bar with some of the Irish guys and an opera singer (it’s a long story) still going strong. Sunday was a day for thick heads, sore throats – I blame Delilah – and a few promises of never again. But all in all yet again a brilliant weekend on our Heineken Cup travels and well done to the folks of Munster for making it so special.
THE GAME
All that and a game of rugby too. Well as for the game itself well of course there was initial disappointment at the result but overall looking on things as a whole a few days later I am not disheartened at all, in fact quite the opposite. I think we might well look back on this game in a couple of years as a real benchmark for the club.
My own personal take is that we were in some respects caught cold and had conceded ten points before we could make any use of the wind that Ronan O’Gara made such ground with in the second half. That we fought back to actually lead going into the break showed great character but alas we could not hold out. We will be in that position again and Saturday’s experience will hopefully be all part of the learning curve going forward.
We sometimes tend to forget what a young squad we have and that we were playing the wily old warhorses of European cup rugby in their own backyard. A tall order perhaps but we were not a million miles away and the team will have learnt immensely from the experience. There will be other European days in the future, maybe even one or two back in Limerick, where this squad will be older, bolder and wiser and we will be a club that no one will look forward to playing.
The Munster supporters we talked to on Saturday night were full of praise for our lads and their potential and apart from a couple of ‘we should have scored fifty’ guys who must have been at a different game to me, most agreed that maybe although Munster certainly deserved the win the scoreboard may not have reflected the true nature of the game.
Indeed on RTE’s Monday night some of the great and the good from Munster’s past and present reiterated the point about the Saints already being a very good team and how pleased the Irish side were to overcome us but mostly how overjoyed they were at how they had handled the ‘best scrum currently in the game’. High praise indeed and a lot to build on for Messrs Mallinder, West and Grayson but ultimately it may only be minor tweaking now that sees us as one of Europe’s top sides in years to come.
So we can consign the result to history, take what needs to be learned on board but not let what happened on Saturday affect us going forward this season. There is still so much to play for this term, we still have a title to win. Europe may be on the back burner for now but we will be back next season as one of the best because even though some other club might claim it, there really, really is something special going on at Northampton. Saturday was maybe just the start...
Pictures can be found here
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Good report and I have my flag as a momento.
Only jesting mate, really captured the "magic" of the weekend and in this case "there really was something special happening and a real buzz"
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
Come On You Saints