myguideTravel Blog

The Munster Rugby Experience

December 24th, 2008

Many people I know have no interest in rugby or its arcane laws but become positively evangelical when you mention the word “Munster” to them. Rugby was an amateur sport until 1995 and as a minority sport in Ireland it only really attracted attention when the national team sporadically did well. Most of the time it was regarded as an elitist game played by the middle classes and urban professionals. This was only ever partially true in Munster, as in the rural based junior and intermediate clubs there was always a good cross-section of farmers, labourers and young students in each team.

The advent of professional rugby hearalded an accelerated evolution rather than a revolution in the game here in Ireland but one of the most significant offshoots of professionalism was the creation of a European wide club competition called the European Rugby Cup known by the sponsors name, the Heineken Cup. The professional Munster  rugby team was created and something quite wonderful and unique was born. Initially the team was followed by a few rugby afficionados mainly in Cork city and Limerick city where the game is strongest. In those days the make up of the team was virtually unchanged from amateur days and a real bond existed between the team and their supporters raised on shock successes such as the defeat of the All-Blacks touring side in 1978 and the world champions Australia in 1992.

Munster uniquely managed to keep the ethos of those amateur days and marry it to a hard edged professionalism which despite changing personnel is still steeped in the romance of those carefree days. In recent years the fortunes of the rugby team have become an important feature of life in Munster; converting those who previously had no interest in rugby to that most singular of Irish creatures, a successful professional sporting franchise. What is even more remarkable is that not one of these fanatical supporters is ever heard to criticise wages or bonuses and it is probably true to say that most would wish for them to be rewarded as handsomely as possible for the joy and pride they engender amongst the people of Munster.

And how the team has rewarded this support over the past ten years. Until 2006, the Munster story was of heroic losses in a succession of semi-finals and finals, the archetypal Irish sporting story. But in 2006 the Heineken Cup was won and the stereotype of the Irish good loser was blown away for ever. Here was a team of proverbial “good winners”. Even in sourcing their “overseas” players Munster seem to have the knack of finding players who want to be part of the Munster legend, who enjoy playing in front of a knowledgeable, passionate crowd, men like John Langford, Jim Williams, Trevor Halstead, Shaun Payne and the latest Munster man Doug Howlett. These players find an honesty, a passion and a connectedness in Munster which in some rare alchemy creates an exhilarating, all but inexplicable, addictive high.

For the casual adrenalin junkie, even a Magners (Celtic) League game provides enough atmosphere to understand why the whole heady brew is lapped up by the province and dare I say the country. At each game, a large banner is displayed in an act of communal thanksgiving, “Irish by birth, Munster by the grace of God”. Be part of it even for a night - but be warned - it’s addictive!

This account of what it means to follow Munster Rugby was first published on January 21 2008

Entry Filed under: Ireland, Irish Rugby, Munster Rugby, Rugby in Munster, Travel, tourism attractions