This article is from page 88 of the 2008-01-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 88 JPG
“A GOOD result in miserable condi- tions.” Two days after the game, that’s Anthony Foley’s concise reaction to Saturday’s victory over Wasps, a re- sult that saw the reigning champions dumped out of the competition.
It was one of those old Thomond nights when Munster rolled out the red carpet for an esteemed visitor be- fore devouring their reputation with 80 minutes of controlled rugby.
The achievement didn’t end with the scalp of Wasps and Munster didn’t rely on their home record to see them through. Effectively, it was the bonus point secured against Cl- ermont Auvergne that catapulted Munster to their tenth consecutive
appearance in the knock-out stages of the competition.
“It was great to get all the points be- cause we went into the game with a lot of permutations in our heads. Bo- nus points, the winning margin. So we had to keep our eyes on a number of different things and to succeed on all fronts was a great achievement.
“It was a real cup atmosphere, a winner takes all thing. Thomond has seen a lot of those over the years and we ve got a lot of experience in those battles and we never doubted our- selves on Saturday.”
Munster’s composure impressed Foley. The full force of Wasps was met early on and the home side con- trolled the momentum.
‘“We’ve come to learn that playing
against any English side there’s a big 20 minutes in them from the start. They’ll throw everything at you and you’ve got to cope with that. Then they’Il come out in the second half and give it everything for the ten minutes after the break.”
Foley is asked if the ground, in the process of a major facelift, lost any of the character and tenor that dappled the place in the past and dismisses the theory immediately.
“Not a chance. It’s a great ground. The atmosphere was terrific and the kick off time was better than the Sunday games. Saturday evening seems to suit the crowd. There was a great buzz around the stadium and you have to think that as the stadium develops, the spectacle is just going
to be get better and better.”
Munster now face Gloucester at Kingsholm Stadium at the beginning of April and in between, they play just six matches with four of those going ahead during the Six Nations. When he looks at the pool of clubs still left in the competition, Foley reckons it never mattered who Mun- ster faced next.
“There are seven other teams ca- pable of winning the tournament. A few teams have never been at this stage before, so there’s going to be some extra excitement.
We’ll have some time off between now and then and there’s the Six Na- tions in between, so there’s going to be a lot of free time and we’ll have to handle that. You’d prefer to be play-
ing games, to stay together and that’s something we’ll have to deal with.
“But for now, you’ve just got to be happy with a quarter-final. To come away from Thomond with that place secured was the target. We knew go- ing into it that we wouldn’t have a home tie and we wouldn’t have an easy passage. It’s the old story – there are no easy games in the last rounds of the Heineken Cup.”