This article is from page 6 of the 2008-12-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
MUNSTER were not the only ones to pull off a victory when they defeated Clermont Auvergne in Thomond aeuseonleny
When Jerry Flannery pushed over Marcus Horan to give Munster the lead in those fateful final minutes, neither player knew that their actions were going to determine much more than the result of the game.
If that had not happened, then Paul Rossiter would not have been able to go through with his plan to propose to Olive McNamara, daughter of Clare County Manager and Scariff publican, Michael McNamara.
“Thank God for Horan, only for him I would have had to wait until another night and [ had it all planned. When he went over he saved my life, if they had lost I wouldn’t have been able to go through with it,” Paul said immediately after the big moment.
When the TMO finally gave the try over the ref-link, he turned to Olive and proposed in the middle of the mayhem that was going on all around Weloseen
“T was stunned for a minute. I re- member seeing the sparkle of the ring and then it made sense. He was be- side himself until the try was given. In fact, he was acting very strangely all day and I was wondering what was wrong with him, but then it all made sense,” said a delighted Olive.
Paul and Olive have been going out for seven months or so and had discussed getting engaged but hadn’t
made any concrete plans.
Olive is a garda stationed in Nenagh and Paul lives near New Ross and plays rugby with New Ross RFC but has been an avid Munster supporter for many years. Saturday was his 70th Munster match. Knowing that they were coming up for the game, Paul pre-arranged it secretly with the jeweller during the week that a ring which Olive had admired would be ready.
After he proposed and Olive ac- cepted, Paul grabbed professional photographer, Richard Leonard who had been working at the match, to
record the big moment with a picture on the pitch.
The happy couple haven’t yet set a date but are thinking of some time towards the end of 2010.
“It was kind of ironic that we got engaged at a rugby match when my dad is so involved with hurling but When he played for Waterpark in Waterford, we watched rugby every Sunday,” said Olive.