MUNSTER…33
RACING92…25
There are seminal moments relating sport, but which often occur away from it, that can leave marks on people which mean they will never be erased or forgotten. Allow me to explain. Take for example the Hillsborough Disaster or Tyrone Gaelic footballer Paul McGirr and/or Tipperary hurler Dillon Quirke passing away following on-field incidents.
In such instances, what actually transpires in the rudiments of whatever event it happens to be become a complete irrelevance. So it was on October 16th 2016 when, about ten minutes after the appointed kick off time in France, the television was turned on only to find that there was nobody on the pitch or in the ground at all.
Just hordes of Munster staff, supporters and assembled media standing around ashen faced. Some crying. Some not even able to cry. Munster coach, former captain and spiritual leader Anthony Foley had been found deceased in his room at the team hotel. Naturally, the match that was fixed for that day didn’t go ahead, but, the scenes and atmosphere around Limerick in the build up to and aftermath of Axel’s funeral were something that will remain with me for a lifetime.
Naturally, when the Red Army took on Glasgow Warriors the day after Axel was laid to rest in his native Killaloe, it was always going to be an emotionally charged cauldron. To the extent that Keith Earls – or somebody in red – being sent off early on was almost an inevitability. Even though what he was gated for was a complete overreaction on behalf of the referee.
Something which was painfully obvious when the Garryowen man sent a drink bottle skip into orbit before stomping off down the tunnel. The other absolute given that day was that there was no way they were going to allow their feisty Scot opponents usurp them on their own patch, that day of all days.
A decade on – yes scarcely believably – a lot of the same emotion swirled when, on the tenth anniversary of Axel’s passing, it was Racing 92 who rolled into the perhaps unusual surrounds of SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The home of Cork GAA.
Which was always going to be an emotive occasion even without it being the date it was. Given that bastions of the red corner at their very best – Ronan O’Gara, Simon Zebo, Donncha Ryan and Paul O’Connell were all associated with that French outfit at one time or another.
However, it being October 16th, it had to be, and was, all about Axel. Defeat was absolutely out of the question. Now, while for sentimental and other reasons, I would have concurred with Donal Lenihan – a legendary and proud Cork man – that the match could and should have been played in Thomond for the weekend that was in it.
That is not, in any way, to cast aspersions on the ability of SuperValu Pairc UI Chaoimh to stage such events. Or other GAA grounds for that matter. Indeed as a media acquaintance whose allegiance would be into the west said to me in the aftermath of Munster’s latest manifestation of raw emotion into positivity, the only pity was that D’Pairc – as the locals would refer to it below – wasn’t full to the rafters.
That said, it’s surely a global phenom at this stage that we Irish are unlikely to be surpassed when it comes to honouring fallen loved ones and heroes. Both in the immediate aftermath of their passing and preserving their memories, influence on those left behind and their legacy which will eternally live on.
Thus, whomever it was that came up with the idea of having Olive Foley – Anthony’s widow – present the lads with their jerseys on the evening before the match, take a very long and deserved bow. A masterstroke.
It’s a move I first heard of when Mickey Harte began doing so – going so far as to have his own late daughter Michaela helping with the jersey hand out in the wake of the death of Paul McGirr. With the nub of the methodology being the stipulation that the players pull on the jersey at the same time. As in Pairc Ui Chaoimh last Saturday night, it’s not difficult to imagine players willing to knock down doors and burst through walls pre match.
With Olive Foley’s emotive words added to that cauldron, it’s no wonder Clayton McMillan’s side sprung from the traps like Road Runner outsmarting Wyle E. Coyote.
Which translated into reality as Brian Gleeson and Shay McCarthy crossed the whitewash inside the first dozen minutes. Garnish that with the rapid evolution of Charlie O’Shea and the awkwardly situated GAA pitch began to rock.
At the other end, Racing registered two penalties. Though if there was any fear of the Munster mission going off the rails it dissipated within minutes of the restart when Tadhg Beirne tacked on another five before O’Shea topped that up still further off the kicking tee.
Mind you, the visitors weren’t long about underlining their own pedigree, going over for two ‘majors’ in a matter of minutes. The second thereof coming via the great Maxim Machenaud who repeatedly underlined that class is permanent and that he still has plenty to offer coming in off the bench.
Having said that, if you wanted to talk about impact subs living up to their billing, enter Fineen Wycherley who literally latched onto a Munster rolling maul on entering the fray before peeling off from the back thereof and touch down.
Believe it or not, JJ Hanrahan actually nailed the conversion before the French again hit back at the other end. With the night that was in it though, McMillan’s men were surely destined to have the final word when impish scrum half Craig Casey put the final exclamation mark on a performance fit for a King.
The box kicking blonde was officially selected as Player Of The Match but maybe the biggest influence on the result was in the stadium far away. Or Olive.
Though Axel will never leave the Munster entourage, time to recalibrate after the most difficult date of the year and take on the greatest acid test at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night.