Abusive 'fans' not welcome in Thomond
Wednesday December 16 2009
THE atmosphere at Thomond Park last Friday was up there with the best recorded at the famous venue and helped Munster respond to Perpignan's late surge and sneak a narrow victory over the French champions.
Over the last 10 years, Munster have deservedly garnered a reputation for having the best supporters in Europe, which is why the conduct of a couple of those fans last Friday was so disappointing. An 8.0 kick-off meant there was plenty of time for pre-match imbibing and this pair sounded like they had been on it since 'The Afternoon Show.' A constant stream of howled abuse -- the majority of it directed at referee Wayne Barnes -- was centred around the c-word and f-word and was horrendous to listen to.
However, despite the many younger fans present, every entreaty to cease fell on deaf ears or attracted an expletive-ridden response. One French journalist, sitting directly in front of Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber had the temerity to complain and was roundly abused before being told to "f*** off back to France".
There is no place in rugby for these 'supporters' and their misplaced sense of bandwagon-hopping devotion. Complaints were made afterwards and if the Munster Branch need any assistance for their ban imposition, they can contact Touchlines for identification purposes.
- Hugh Farrelly
Irish Independent
