Susan Hated Literature

Although I continue to be delighra and exi’ra^[1] over Munster’s win, it has had a negative impact on my life. Well, a positive and negative. See publicity for Munster means that people are searching for Munster related stuff on the net, so some find their way here. Which is good, although they do all seem to be the silent type. But it means that my stats are so boring. All they say is search strings for Paul O’Connell^[2] or Peter Stringer^[3] although I did get one mildly amusing one which was, and I quote “Ronan O’Gara what does he do”

He plays rugby.

What, you were expecting more? If so go to wikipedia for a look at their definition of a Fly-half, although seeing as he plays in Ireland Ronan is actually an Out-half. Don’t worry, its the same position, just a different name. Basically that means he does all the kicking. And organising. And he scores many many points. He is the highest scorer in the European Cup as well. Which is nice.

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• Paul O’Connell sleeps with the lights on because the dark is afraid of him (7)
• It’s not our destiny. We’ve got to go out and bloody work for it. (5)
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• You are my sunshine - Redux (5)
• He taught me how to wash, fight and pray (7)

Crap. I forgot that the server peeps were upgrading yesterday. That’s why yesterday’s post has been eradicated, and Peter is missing from the header. There is no hope of me remembering exactly what I said, so I’ll just ramble on again about how great Saturday was. And there is always the possibility that it’ll show up again, then again it may not. But first, Luna Nina says:

1. Yours ::
2. Charcoal ::
3. Platitude ::
4. Graduation ::
5. Hungry ::
6. Somewhere ::
7. Nurse ::
8. Freak ::
9. Unbelievable ::
10. Walk ::

and mine will be after the rugby rambles and the cut.

If you read the post yesterday there will be similarities here, but you’ll just have to deal with that
Now where to begin? Oh yes, with the site of ultra-focused Ronan O’Gara being prodded with an umbrella as he and some of the other rugby lads fought over a red cowboy hat.

See, yesterday saw the Munster team arrive in Limerick for a homecoming celebration. They’d landed in Shannon around 1.00 that morning and after a stay in a hotel began the bus journey to O’Connell St, Limerick. That’d be the street that was flashed up on the big screen in the middle of the match on Sat. And that youtube video is the scenes from Limerick in the final minutes of the match.

Can you picture this, a bus load of semi-drunk fella on an open top bus, in the rain, drinking cans of Bulmers and bottles of Heineken. What a sight Being cheered on by around 40,000 supporters according to some newspapers

It didn’t have any hint of professionalism about it, but that is what made it so great. It was just so honest. And plenty of it was obviously very unplanned. Like Marty Morrissey being summoned on to the stage. Marty, you see, is a GAA commentator, not a rugby man. but he was on duty for RTE covering this event, but well away from the stage. Obviously though he got spotted, and as we’ve all heard this Munster rugby team are not so serious when off the pitch^[1] And it ended up with Marty after trying to make his escape being hoisted onto the rugby team’s shoulders. That’s something you don’t see everyday.

I think Marty Morrissey is the nearest thing to O Muirceartaigh that TV has. Though Marty should carry a health warning as he is not good for those of us with even the slightest of cardiac problems! Sometimes you are left thinking that Marty is either going to swallow the microphone whole or jump out of the telly and land beside you.

Who will ever forget ‘There won’t be a cow milked in Clare for a week’ (Munster SFC Final 1992) or ‘By God these Wexford boys mean business’ (Marty, complete with lump in throat, Leinster SHC Final, 1996).

It was a great day, and I’m sure all those who waited frrom 10 in the morning^[2] felt it was worth it when they were there to cheer on the team at around 5 that afternoon. It was a long wait in the rain, but after losing 2 previous finals, not to mention a few semi’s, it was one way of showing their appreciation.

Although to the few fans who are now expecting three in a row! Come on, I know that you have to be hungry in order to win at sport, but wanting something and expecting it are two very different things.

Still, they showed up in that rain yesterday, they spent fortunes following the team around Europe. Maybe the fans deserve to have some expectations.

In other sporting news in Ireland most matches were called off because of the rain, including the Sligo v galway one, which means that Galway’s Padraig Joyce will probably be fit for next weekend. The boring golf was also hit, meaning it’ll go into a fifth day today. Although I did like that Darren Clarke^[3] excused his bad play on Sat by saying he was too busy watching the rugby to think about his golf game.

And surprise of surprises New york actually won a GAA match. They beat Derry in the opening round of the hurling, although visa issues mean they might not play in the next round. Well, thems the breaks for illegal immigrants. or at least I assume that is the problem they’ll have trying to re-enter the States afterwards if they leave.

Now, is there anything else I mentioned yesterday? Oh yes, the Eurovision. Which, fantastically, was won by Finland, in the form of Monster Rock band Lordi. And I’m proud to report that Irish viewers, clearly taking the competition very seriously, awarded Lordi 10 points. With our 12 going to the weird Lithuanian “We Are the Winners” song^[4]

Continue Reading »

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There are moments in sport that will live forever. As a small country we don’t get too many of them, so they are so much more important. Ronnie Delany’s gold medal in the 1956 Olympics. The 1978 defeat of the All Blacks. Sonia O’Sullivan. Ray Houghton, whether against England or Italy. Paul McGrath’s almost one-man defence in that Italy match. Course there also some that live forever for all the wrong reasons. Sonia O’Sullivan. Roy Keane.

But today can go down for all the right reasons. Because Munster won. 23-19

The match started out with disaster as Biarritz scored a try within the first three minutes. And yes, replays showed that Bobo had a foot in touch, not once but twice. And maybe if we lost I’d be complaining. But we won, so I can say that, sure these things happen in rugby matches.

Munster have been on the hunt for this cup for many years now. Captain Anthony Foley has played in 76 of Munster’s 77 European Cup matches for Munster^[1] and others in this team have been waiting 10 years to lift this trophy. So they weren’t about to drop the heads. Three minutes gone means you still have 77^[2] left in which to make your comeback.

And they did. Fantastic placekicking from Ronan O’Gara, and two great tries. One from South Africa Trevor Halstead and the other a great piece of work from Stringer. Who’s saying he shouldn’t be on the team now?

Overall it was a fantastic match. Full of tension, and with estimates of up to 70,000 Munster fans in the Millenium Stadium there was plenty of atmosphere. The big screen in the stadium also flashed up an image of the supporters back home in Limerick watching on Europe’s largest YV screen, a fact which at least some of the players mentioned in their post-match interviews.

This game had it all. Skill, passion, tries, points, tension, atmosphere. Man getting hit in groin by head, poor Jerry Flannery. Everything. A great day. And an even better result.

Check out The Limerisk Blogger for more images and youtube video. And of couse the BBC photo gallery, and I’m sure there are plenty more bloggers out there covering it.

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• It’s about who we are, and where we come from, the people you meet on the streets (13)
• You are my sunshine - Redux (5)
• Paul O’Connell sleeps with the lights on because the dark is afraid of him (7)
• New Zealand had superior teams to the opposition in the past few World Cups but they faltered because they lacked the essential spirit that Munster demonstrated (5)
• We had dreams and songs to sing (10)

The countdown has begun.

And I can honestly say I’m more nervous about this match than any other match/sporting event I’ve ever watched. Maybe because Irish teams don’t tend to get to finals.

I know Irish teams get to the All-Ireland finals, but in that case I’d be cheering for Sligo, and they never get there. Although I do cheer on Limerick in the hurling and Galway in the football, but it just isn’t the same thing.

I suppose watching Cian O’Connor in the Olympics was similar, although there was no hype, because show-jumping aint exactly a sport that gets huge coverage on the telly. The switch on when there is a chance we’ll win. But switch off again as soon as that gold medal has slipped away. Although the whole drugs thing did make Cian a recognisable name throughout the country. But raising a sport’s profile through the illegal use of drugs is hardly a good thing.

Anyways, only a few hours to go now

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Today is Munster Red Day. Course I’m not in the province so can’t help turn Munster red But I did use my red umbrella, does that count? I don’t actually own any red clothes, at least I don’t think I do. It tends to clash with the hair.

Let me moan about the weather for a second here^[1] Yesterday morning was a bloody joy to behold. Blue skies^[2] and a warm sun shining down. So I dressed accordingly. Just before I left the house I listened to the weather and heard “wind, rain, gusts” but did I do the usual and bring the coat, just in case. no. Of course not.

See, there are two modes of dress for Irish people in the “warmer months”. First there are the “young hip type.” And they tend to dress with total disregard to the weather, in that if it is spring or summer they’ll wear short sleeves, skimpy tops, shirts, skirts, sandals etc. You know, the sort of clothes you see people in sunny American tv-land wear. It doesn’t matter that the sky overhead has been filled with huge grey blue clouds all day, or that under the fake tans skin is turning blue from the wind, or that wading through puddles isn’t all that fun with open toes. they’ll still dress that way. And maybe even wear sunglasses.

The other mode is the “wear everything just in case” mode. So you bring a coat, an umbrella, a scarf, a hat, a jacket, a light top, something underneath that, a pair of tackies^[3] or maybe even boots^[4] or, in other words, you carry a mini-wardrobe around on your back, just in case the weather improves all the while assuming that it won’t. because, this is Ireland after all, and while Dublin has way, way less rain than Sligo, it still isn’t California.

This build up should have told you what happened next. I mean, I wasn’t in shorts and a t-shirt^[5] but I decided to trust the morning sky.

I soon saw the error of my ways.

Rain. Rain. A little more rain. And let’s not forget those gusts of wind. Cause there is nothing better than the wind catching in your umbrella and trying to make you stab the person walking beside you. Nothing better.

So a little wet after I stepped outside work I headed off to meet NM as we were heading to an Irish Rugby Supporters Evening with Eddie O’Sullivan. Brother #5 was supposed to be coming, but couldn’t cause of the awkwardness of having to travel from Sligo and what with school and tests coming up, so NM came instead, all prepared to be bored, just so she could get a copy of the final episode of this season’s Veronica Mars^[6]

Luckily enough by the time it was over the sun had decided to come out again and we had a bit of blue sky so I didn’t get wet on my walk home from the DART.

This morning the weather has started life with rain and grey clouds, so I’ve done the sensible thing and worn those shorts, sandals and t-shirt I told you about earlier. After all, chances are there may be two minutes od sun at some stage today. And you gotta be prepared.

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• We had dreams and songs to sing (10)
• Paul O’Connell sleeps with the lights on because the dark is afraid of him (7)
• New Zealand had superior teams to the opposition in the past few World Cups but they faltered because they lacked the essential spirit that Munster demonstrated (5)
• It’s an absolutely appalling rumour and has no foundation whatsoever, In fact, he’s sitting across the table happily eating his dinner as we speak. (11)

Yes, yes, everything has gone red. I can see that. But I did warn you earlier in the week^[1] in 8 days we’ll be getting ready to see Munster play Biarritz in the European Final, so the blog is dressed up in support. I’m not too sure about the header though. That stag looks a bit yella doesn’t he? I may be too lazy to find a replacement though, we’ll see.

In other news, Amazon.co.uk have turned all mean. I’ve never really liked shopping there as we never get any postage discounts, but every now and then I’d be willing to fork out the extra dosh for something. Only now they’re starting to reduce what they’ll let us buy, as Michele Neylon points out Games, Electronics, and Gift items will no longer be shipped to the Republic. Which is odd, don’t you think. Still, I prefer Play anyway. They have free shipping and have a pretty good selection of stock. The discussion on Amazon can also be found on DOB-blog and Tuppenceworth, where the legal aspects are also being discussed^[2]

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• New Zealand had superior teams to the opposition in the past few World Cups but they faltered because they lacked the essential spirit that Munster demonstrated (5)
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Edited to add For all your Munster Rugby Facts, 100% true^[1] all the time.

Sunday morning dawned with blue skies and a trip to the christening. Then the aftermath and the chatting, the ooohing and awwing over the baby. But as the clock got closer and closer to 3 the boys began to look at their watches. The telly in the kitchen went on. There was a half argument over whether the build up to the match should be shown, or whether B#3 would be allowed to watch some of the Grand Prix. He had a bet on you see.

But at around 2.45, laden down with cheesecakes and sandwiches we all headed for the cars. There were two loads of us, and only a limited number of seats at home, so I told the mother to facking floor^[2] it, but she didn’t. Luckily the father was still messing about with his camera so we made it back before the larger car, and nabbed some good seats.

And for all my dithering over what team I was going to support, once the match started there was no doubt. My head may have been wondering, but the rest of me said Munster.

Even before the second car had arrived Munster were three points up, and from there on there was no real doubt about the outcome. The Munster forwards were simply fantastic.

It was billed as a “clash of cultures” in some of the papers, and while that is certainly an exaggeration there was a sense that although these teams know each other so very well, have played together on so many great occasions, have been willing to, as Paul O’Connell put it, die for each other, they were stereotyped as opposites

Leinster versus Munster has been reduced to country against town, Barry’s tea against café latte, ale against champagne. Munster are perceived as being about blood and thunder and apocalyptic skies, trundling around rugby fields in one, indistinguishable red mass. Leinster, though, are a bunch of amorous Frenchmen with south Dublin accents pirouetting around the field at 100 miles an hour, all the better to showcase their Byronesque hairdos.

Paul O’Connell, man of the match, man of the tournament. Who doesn’t have a grá for Paul? Brian O’Driscoll may get all the press, but it isn’t the Leinster captain that we all adore. We may respect him, we may think he is the best rugby player Ireland has produced, we may admire him. But he just doesn’t have that place in rugby hearts that O’Connell does. A place cemented not only by his displays on the pitch, but his attitude off. He gave a lovely interview just after the match.
And then there is O’Gara. You’d have to feel some sympathy for Contepomi, his opposite number who made quite a few mistakes, but O’Gara was superb, and none more deserving of scoring that wonderful try. And it was a great sight to see him leap over the hoardings, running straight for the red army faithful.

“If I could turn back the clock, I wouldn’t do it again.” O’Gara reflected on of his soccer like celebration.

“But your emotions get the better of you at times, and, if I can’t enjoy that, I won’t ever enjoy any moment I’ve had. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a second line, and I was through.

“I could just see a sea of red in front of me and that gave me an incredible buzz.”

Although I’ll confess that when I say him jump I thought to myself, he’s going to tap an ankle and go flying, and then where’ll you be against Biarritz? But he didn’t, and for a fella just out of hospital, with boots that were too small for him, and a cut opening up didn’t he do well
And then there’s Stringer. And O’Callaghan. And poor John Kelly who went off injured, replaced by Rob Hernderson, who also had to be carried off injured before the game was over.

So congratulations to Munster. But you’d have to feel for Leinster. After their fantastic display against Toulouse they go and lose the bragging rights for the next year. I’m sure they’ll be back, better than ever for next year’s competition, but for now, has anyone got any spare tickets for Cardiff?

And I just have to end with a comment from George Hook. He was talking just before the match started about how little the Munster coach, Declan Kidney, gives away in press conferences, and said “If you lined 100 Kidneys up, you still wouldn’t reach a conclusion.

Final score in the European Rugby Cup semi-final was Leinster 6, Munster 30. And while Munster did dominate, and boss Leinster around a little, I think that final score is a little flattering to Munster. Which I’m sure they know.

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