That’s a scoreline to lift any Munster rugby follower’s heart. Not because it was England that were beaten by New Zealand. Not because Munster came closer to beating the all-conquering All Blacks than any of the full International sides. It’s because all these score-lines have one thing in common:
- England 6 – 32 New Zealand
- Wales 9 – 29 New Zealand
- Ireland 3 – 22 New Zealand
- Scotland 6 – 32 New Zealand
Not one of the Home Nations scored a try against the All Blacks. But Munster did.
Round these parts it will be remembered for one of the greatest games to have ever taken place in Thomond Park, it will be remembered as the night that Barry Murphy scored the only try conceded by the All Blacks on their Grand Slam tour.
“In 1978, Munster supporters left Thomond Park amazed that they had beaten the All Blacks. In 2008, Munster supporters left Thomond Park amazed that they had lost to the All Blacks”.
Tags: all blacks, barry murphy, munster
While I was cheering Munster on like most Irish people that night, I think things have gotten a little out of control and a little perspective needs to be put on the situation, so I’ve a few points that I’d like to share…
1. Scotland and Munster played the third(Not second) string all black teams. So I’ll give you the Scotland comparison. That said – the competition for places on the all black team is so strong that there was nothing really wrong with the New Zealand team that went out onto the pitch.
2. Munster had unbelievable support out there. Congrats to the supporters – there was a great atmosphere.
3. As most of the Irish players on the team don’t play first string international rugby, they have a little bit more to give in games like this. Players who play at the top of their sport always (even subconsciously) hold back a little when the game doesn’t mean as much, (which except for rankings, the Irish game really didn’t) as they know they have to play the big games later on. Ian Dowling is a perfect example of this – a player who gave everything to that game.
4. They were also helped by the fact that they didn’t go down by much early on – that was really important as it really kept the crowd and the players in the game.
I wouldn’t take anything from these players though as it was a great game to watch – it just just needs a little perspective.
I’ll concede that the All Black team that walked out onto Thomond Park were a “second string” side, but so were the Munster team that played them. On that basis, I’d like to think that our first team would have given the All Blacks first team a good a game.
Yes, the supporters were amazing, but, dare I say it, that’s the norm for any big game involving Munster. I was at work for the game, (not that I did any actual work during the match!), and the atmosphere in the bar was unbelievable. It was better even than 2006 when Munster won the Heineken Cup for the first time. The supporters play a huge part in Munster’s game-plan, always have, and always will. The supporters have a great deal to do with the Fortress Thomond mentality.
The Ireland v New Zealand game, had we won it, would have had a greater effect on our world ranking points than either the win over Canada or Argentina. The IRB use a points exchange system, so the more ranking points a team has, they more they stand to lose if they are defeated by a lower ranked team. The converse is also true: Had we beaten the top ranked team, we’d have gained more ranking points. The IRB also take into account the points difference. Had we lost by less than 15 points, we would have lost fewer ranking points.