|
Printable Version The Biggest Club Rugby Match in the World
Another gripping encounter between two of the heavyweights of European club rugby ended with Munster, roared on by what seemed to be all of Ireland, beating Toulouse 16-13 in the Heineken Cup Final on 24th May at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. As in most previous finals there was little place for free-flowing and expansive rugby, but the excitement and tension made for an absorbing contest which was always likely to be a closely fought and decided by a single try or kick. The vastly experienced Toulouse team, which under the guidance of Guy Noves had already contested seven semi-finals and won the trophy three times, clearly dominated the opening exchanges as they played a game of high speed, movement and skill to which Munster had no immediate answer. It was therefore no surprise when Elissalde soon put over a drop kick to open the score. If he then pushed a penalty opportunity wide and Heymans sliced a kick out on the full it seemed it would only be a matter of time before Toulouse put more points on the board. But then Munster dug deep and, playing to their traditional forward strength, camped down on the Toulouse 22. Leamy just failed to ground the ball as he reached over the line, but Munster maintained their patience and Leamy made no second mistake when after continuing forward pressure he crossed the line from close range a few minutes later.
The beginning of the second saw Toulouse making a slow start, losing several of their own line-outs and allowing Munster to begin to dominate possession. Only a forward pass ruled out a try by their former All Black winger Doug Howlett, and when Pelous was sent to the sin bin following the intervention of the touch-judge (a harsh decision to many neutral eyes) and O’Gara put the resulting penalty over, few thought that Munster would not put more points on the board. But then came a moment of French magic: Heymans took a quick throw in to himself deep in his own half, chipped ahead, gathered and kicked ahead again, leaving it for Donguy to win the race to ground the ball. Elissalde converted the try and once again it was all square again with another twenty minutes to play, and the Munster supporters were suddenly silenced.
Inspired by this try that came out of nowhere Toulouse made inroads into the Munster 22, and if Elissalde had continued to play to his forwards and backs rather than attempting a poorly directed cross-kick for his wing Toulouse appeared likely to come away with more points. But it was then that Munster showed their big match temperament par excellence, taking all the line-outs and forcing several turnovers. Another moment of ill-discipline by Pelous (soon returning to play) led to a penalty which O’Gara inevitably put straight between the posts, and from then on Munster maintained possession relentlessly, keeping the ball with their forwards: if it was not beautiful rugby it was certainly admirably effective in denying possession to Toulouse for the remainder of the contest.
An epic game, then, in which Munster’s more pragmatic and disciplined approach to winning and the passionate support of what was effectively a home crowd was in the end the difference between two closely matched teams. And, given the success and passion to compete of both teams, who would bet against the two of them meeting in the final again next year?
FedEx is a proud sponsor of European club rugby. If you would like to read more information, please visit the European Rugby Cup web site. For details of FedEx and its involvement with European club rugby, please visit the ercrugby.com web site.