A TITANIC WEEKEND

One of the beauty’s about cycling is that large chunks of your time can be spent in mild reverie as you saunter through the North Down countryside.

So it was last weekend prior to Ulster’s big day out at Thomond that I connected up some thoughts ahead of the game. In hindsight they are quite apt.

I was tempted to post them on facebook to try and compete with Mr. Motivator himself, Glynn Commando, who was drumming up all kinds of everything on his page.

My thoughts though ran as follows and related to the oft parroted good teams make their own luck. Somewhere along the line the lady luck will eventually desert you at a critical time and in Munster I espied a team teetering on the brink of calculated misfortune.

Munster I felt had used up more than their fair share of that luck during the group stages when they rode the high tide of Ronan O’Gara’s confidence and the Munster collective to register narrow last gasp wins.

Sometime, I thought back then, the boat would come in and Munster would find themselves swimming against the tide of fate. So it proved on Sunday at Thomond Park, the 2 point gap, critical to the last gasp drop goal, actually remained stuck at 6 points.

Munster were up against a team who believed their day had come and destiny was their mantle to be grasped and held on to. This was no fluke on Ulster’s part, though for sure they got the rub of green in so many areas.

They had come up against a Munster team whose collective self belief has ebbed due to the callowness of their back row and the limited attack options in their backs. Take into account the amount of players returning from injury, for some, a touch too soon and you had all the ingredients for a car crash.

Take not a jot away from Ulster though because this was a performance built on self belief that has burned slowly like a fuse on a stick of dynamite.

A year ago at a ‘meet the players’ function, Johann Muller said the team could go on and achieve in the Heineken Cup.

Many smiled in patronising manner at such sentiments from a foreign player and more, like myself, thought secretly to themselves that Johann was just being a nice guy willing to pander to the support.

In hindsight the self belief amongst the Afrikaners that can be mistaken for arrogance has actually forged a huge wad of confidence in the Ulster squad allied to the growth in stature of their Irish internationals.

Factor in the belief of fringe Irish squad players like Tuohy and Henry who may well feel they are as good, if not better than the Munster players, Ryan and O’Mahony, and you had a potential source of grievance turned into a positive force.

All of these factors combined to make Ulster play like a team with a mission at Thomond, backed in large numbers by their own support, the like of which Munster fans can hardly be used to as competition.

‘Ulster’s Thomond Raid no Surprise – In Hindsight,’ was Gerry Thornley’s considered retrospective view of the game and is echoed in my pithy words above. Hindsight is a wonderful thing as is often quoted when the so called wise after the event get to work on the unfortunate and the damned.

At the time the game was hard to watch, like Tyrone Howe I kept expecting the Munster stag to rise up and slay the Ulster bear as has happened to many teams in the past. Even in the last 5 minutes of the game I could barely look as Munster pressed but got little change from the Ulster defence.

People’s Army in Revolt

Pre match, Munsterfans lauded Monsieur Poite’s appointment and in equal measure condemned him to hell and back post game.

This is no surprise, the self styled people’s army are not the greatest of losers, though they do winning well.

For Ulster’s smaller army of supporters winning is a treat to be measured against failures of previous European campaigns. Munster fans almost impregnable self belief nurtured through many successful seasons in Europe has taken a hit and heralded the accompanying acrimony of people bred on winning.

If continued success comes the way of Ulster supporters and their team they would do well to remember where they came from in terms of failure on the pitch. It should help keep feet firmly rooted to mother earth.

It was Titanic weekend in Belfast, a celebration of a disaster, turned into a triumph in adversity after so many years of trying to look the other way whilst the rest of the world wanted to know more.

It was titanic in Thomond and waterline damage of a once unsinkable entity. Munster foundered on the icy shores of Ulster’s defence.

I’m not convinced this is a seismic shift in the Irish rugby hierarchy but the foundations are in place.

Ticket Talk

Cue the usual maelstrom of ticket purchasing for the Aviva. One does not begrudge people who jump on the Ulster bandwagon but I do wonder where all these charming folk are hiding when there is a humdrum Pro 12 game on.

Perhaps Windsor Park is the answer?

The genius, who went on the Edinburgh supporter’s messageboard and offered them passage to Dublin on the URSC buses, will earn a charming word or two from the URSC comrades for that piece of transport liberalism, as they contemplate the battle for seats aboard the URSC express.

Cleaning Windows

My fallibility as I cling to the ladders varnishing fascia boards, some 5 metres above earth, has been brought into focus by Warren Gatland, who suffered severe leg injuries whilst cleaning windows.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery Mr. Gatland and I will climb those ladders today with extra care.

Justice for John

The Ulster players will not be wearing Justice 4 #3 armbands in outrage at the John Afoa ban.

There is a world of difference between the calculated attack, off the ball, on Brian O’Driscoll which kick started the current fear and loathing and the tighthead’s tackle on Felix Jones.

The scales have tipped too far the other way.

Shades of Hugh

After last week’s ‘Ulster Victory Bad for Irish Rugby’ headline which earned him enough opprobrium to fuel his country on foul smelling gas, Hugh Farrelly was complaining of being targeted by internet anons.

He repeated his Ulster victory headliner, claiming the National team’s well being is paramount over provincial success.

Hugh should examine why Heineken success has not translated into international form.

Perhaps one reason is the coach who relies on an old tried and trusted formulaic gameplan that has been bypassed by a new more mobile game. Look no further than last Sunday at Thomond Park, Mr. Farrelly and see echoes of Declan Kidneys mentality in the way Munster played and lost.

If you’re going to rubbish provincial teams like Ulster from the nether regions of your computer keyboard, don’t be surprised if provincial fans respond accordingly but without the platform of a national paper, hence their anomynity.