Triumph in the face of adversity
Munster's Doug Howlett goes over in the corner but the score didn't stand because of a forward pass earlier in the move
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If you could bottle the Munster spirit you'd make your fortune. It is a product beyond price and it seems to last forever.
Even when Toulouse occasionally put together their famed flowing game, full of passing and pace, in Cardiff last night, Munster fought ferociously to spoil and frustrate their rivals.
The Munster pack toiled manfully in every phase. They had to dig deep to keep out Toulouse's fiery, thrilling start and they could have used a whiff of oxygen to revive them after Toulouse's stunning try from 70 metres midway through the second-half.
But Munster simply accept adversity like an old, familiar friend. Down and out, or so it seemed, in Montferrand last autumn where the seed of last night's triumph was sown, Munster never know it even when defeat looms.
Lesser teams, those without the inspiration and rock hard self-belief shared by this extraordinary collection of rugby men, might have buckled as Toulouse roared back to 13-13 and then threatened to find another gear beyond the capacity of their opponents.
The turning point came after 61 minutes when Jean Baptiste Elissalde wasted a superb attacking position inside the Munster 22. His hopeless crosskick went harmlessly into the arms of Marcus Horan of all people in the in-goal area. Once Horan touched down safely, the game went Munster's way.
Early on, too, the Frenchmen had threatened to dominate the final.
Two things stopped them. Elissalde missed two of his first three kicks, a penalty and drop goal attempt, and Munster's never-say-die defence covered all over the field. It was like a blue blanket constantly smothering Toulouse.
Munster had been this way before, under the cosh against technically superior opponents. But that spirit never flags. The tougher the tension and pressure, the more it shows.
It was a phenomenal effort, full of power, pride and commitment. Skipper Paul O'Connell had blood pouring down his face at one stage after half time. The magnificent O'Connell may have been bloodied, but never bowed.
The two best sides in the competition this year were locked at 13-13 when Ronan O'Gara hammered over his crucial 64th minute penalty for the lead. It proved enough, as the Frenchmen found themselves squeezed out of the game in the final quarter of an hour.
The contrast in styles was fascinating. Despite the opportunity of another dimension offered by the arrival this season of Howlett, Mafi and Tipoki, Munster were again at their most effective when they kept it tight, driving off the rucks and mauls in a series of energy sapping forward marches that sucked the life out of the Frenchmen, like a leech takes blood from the human body.
One extraordinary movement contained an almost unbelievable 17 phases. Now there are two ways of looking at this. One is that Munster were merely playing to their strengths, utilising the opportunity provided by the laws of this game to keep the ball endlessly and slowly chew up long minutes at the expense of their frustrated opponents.
The second is that it kills the game as a spectacle. Of course, not one of the estimated 55,000 Munster fans in the Millennium stadium would complain in any way. But the fact remains, this is a rugby the lawmakers want to render as obsolete as the dinosaur.
By coincidence, the climax to the southern hemisphere's Super 14 season has arrived at almost the same time as the end of the Heineken Cup in the northern hemisphere. Just hours before the Heineken final, the semi-finals of the Super 14 had been staged, in Christchurch and Sydney. OK, the Sharks were so loose and shapeless, so riddled with mistakes that the NSW Waratahs could stroll into next Saturday's final.
But in Christchurch, the technically excellent Crusaders showed us a vision of a game far beyond the compass of even Munster in Europe. Toulouse are closer to that style which the new experimental laws will encourage come next season.
This game demands a level of technical quality that many sides in Europe are going to struggle to replicate. It is a game of flow, of precision, and, crucially, of immaculate decision making. The new laws encourage, no demand, players to become far better in their judgement and choices than anything we see at present in the northern hemisphere.
This is not to say the likes of Munster will be unable to adapt. They may well do, and given their spirit and determination to prevail whatever the circumstances, we shouldn't be surprised if they do.
But essentially, they won their second Heineken Cup in three years last night in a style and manner that will soon be out-dated. Now the old school types in the northern hemisphere can rant and rage all they like at that. But for what it's worth, I am firmly of the view that the IRB are right to try to move their game forward and improve their product.
Seventeen phases of bullocking runs worth about a yard and a half each time may be the stuff of dreams for some. But I'd suggest it's hardly entertainment and therefore, in danger of becoming a bore for those watching on TV.
And, lest we forget it, TV is the game's paymaster these days. Not all those wonderful, inspirational Munster fans; not even the shirt sponsors. Television pays the big money and it will get what it wants. And that isn't 17 phases of grinding forward play, however gripping the denouement may prove.
- Peter Bills
