Dave Cahill wrote: ↑May 30th, 2022, 10:21 am
The reaction of Munster supporters is simultaneously natural, strange, surprising and predictable.
ROG and Donncha Ryan are former Munster players who between them played nearly 500 game for the province, its natural to be proud of their achievements - it particularly plays into a classic Irish failing of valuing success elsewhere over success at home, we see that all the time in Sports, Music, Business, any field really. So going to France and taking on a relatively small French club and bringing them to a European title is something that people from Munster are (and should be) proud of. And if it stops your local rivals winning, so much the better. Despite their, at best, indifference to his departure, there are lots of Everton fans very happy with Carlo Ancelotti this morning for example.
Where it becomes problematical for them is the cognitive dissonance. Despite seeing themselves (not entirely inaccurately) as one of European Rugby's big dogs, some Munster supporters have come to the conclusion that their only chance of any success is entirely vicarious, something that appears to be unique to Munster. I don't recall such joy coming down the M1 when Mark McCall was winning all around him at Saracens. Ulster supporters still have hope though - their Munster equivalents appear to have given up on the chance of their own team being successful. You'd nearly feel sorry for them. Nearly.
Munster fan here. Firstly hard luck - I genuinely had ye pegged as 15-20 point favourites and I reckon this Leinster team could make the next 2-3 finals easily. I wouldn't read anything into this business of Skelton/Physicality being the flaw, maybe just a bit of mentality stuff being away from home and in a big pressure match.
On your point though, I think you're maybe being slightly unfair. I'd seen tonnes of Ulster supporters doing the vicarious success piece through Steenson and Whitten and McCall for Exeter and Saracens. Similar to Trevor Brennan with Toulouse back in the early 2000s.
On one hand I see Munster cop a lot of stick for having delusions of grandeur. Not won in Europe for so long but still we see ourselves as a big team in with a chance of winning it, we always assume this year will be our year etc. And then equally comments like you're suggesting where we only live vicariously and enjoy success of former players and coaches as we know we won't get any ourselves.
I do agree there's a sizeable amount of Munster fans that seem to delight in any downfall for Leinster but the shoe is certainly on the other foot much of the time. Every province has its idiots that bring that sort of soccer nonsense to supporting the game. I think most of us (whether blue or red) don't get involved in that kind of mud slinging.
Leaving that aside, I thought Jimmy O'Brien had a good game. After watching Larmour's big game against us last week I thought he was unlucky to miss out especially with the credit he'd built up in the bank. But O'Brien looks a really decent player too. With the emergence of himself and Hansen this year I think thats the last we'll see of Keith Earls for Ireland unfortunately.