‘It’s just another game’ has to be one of the most overused cliches in sport.
Whether it’s the first game of the season, a final or the last game of a 15-year professional career; the ‘just another game’ tag seemingly gets thrown around far too often.
But when it’s your 327th and final game it was always going to be more than ‘just another game’ for John Muldoon.
The Sportsgrounds is a very familiar place to the Connacht number eight but boasting an 18-point lead over Leinster at half-time was somewhat unfamiliar territory for him. ‘Dreamland’ was the placed he called it after the match.
Muldoon captained Connacht to an unprecedented PRO12 final win over Leinster in 2016 in what is undoubtedly the highlight of his career, and while Saturday’s game against the Champions Cup finalists was fairly meaningless for Connacht in the grand scheme of their season, it was a fitting performance to send off the province’s most capped player and their most loyal servant.
Muldoon led from the front against Leinter, literally as the team walked out onto the pitch, and more figuratively in the way he played.
John Muldoon says Farewell. First, some business to attend to…#CONvLEI #ThanksMul pic.twitter.com/utcirdaUX8
— david kelly (@dk3lly) April 28, 2018
The 35-year-old played the game in his usual abrasive style as he threw himself into mauls, towered over the top of the ball at the ruck and tackled gallantly as he mowed down 21-year-old Max Deegan in cover defence. An old head with surprisingly young legs.
Muldoon is one of those players that was never really blessed with tremendous athleticism or pace but he’s always led by example and been a player that was willing to do what was necessary when it was necessary.
Whether that required throwing himself into the middle of an opposition maul or standing in at scrum-half as he did on Saturday, Muldoon was often the figure in both good and bad Connacht teams that players frequently turned to for leadership.
Connacht’s problems over this season, and many of the others that he has experienced at the club, often extended far beyond what he could or could not do from the back of the scrum, there’s often been many other areas where they have been found severely lacking, but on Saturday it was his supporting cast that stepped up in a big way.
Shane Delahunt got stuck into his opposite number James Tracy. Denis Buckley rattled Andrew Porter at scrum-time. Jack Carty was picking out Tiernan O’Halloran with chip kicks and O’Halloran was then taking those kicks and turning them into Kieran Marmion tries.
😯 That offload 😯
A fine move from @Connachtrugby brings up the bonus-point. A sensational pass from Shane Delahunt finds @UncleNiyisy for his second of the afternoon 🔥#GUINNESSPRO14 #CONvLEI
📺 Catch this one right now on @SportTG4📺 pic.twitter.com/SenZpmolGD
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) April 28, 2018
It was Connacht that was playing with a degree of swagger that would befit Champions Cup finalists, not Leinster, who were without a host of frontline players.
The westerners weren’t playing for Champions Cup spots, a place in the PRO14 semi-finals or even just playing for the sake of playing. They played with purpose and to see off Muldoon with a performance that befitted his career.
Heading into the final game of the season some teams can often be accused of already having one foot on the beach but Connacht kept their two feet firmly on the ground and their eyes locked on Muldoon, who reportedly shed a few tears before the game.
Rugby teams that play on emotion often struggle with consistency and it’s very much been a fault of Connacht’s this year as they finish the season with just seven wins from 21 games, but emotion is also what makes rugby, and sport in general, so attractive to watch.
Watching Muldoon’s teammates immediately embrace him after the full-time whistle and hearing the crowd rapturously applaud his late conversion demonstrates not only what Muldoon meant to the players of Connacht the rugby club, but also what he meant to the people that call the province home.
No player has been a better example of what Connacht rugby is and the sense of community that it exudes than Muldoon, and it was gratifying to see him finish his career in style when so often professional rugby careers are ended in the least fulfilling ways imaginable.
Paul O’Connell’s career ended on a stretcher, Jamie Heaslip’s career was brought to a halt in a warm-up and Gordon D’Arcy’s time in rugby finished with him being told that he would not be required for the Rugby World Cup. Heroes rarely write their own scripts.
Muldoon’s career didn’t finish at a Rugby World Cup in Japan, at a Champions Cup final in Bilbao or even at a PRO14 final in Dublin. It ended at the Sportsgrounds in Galway, where it all started, with a 47-10 win and a goalline stand where he was just one player out of 15 on a day where he was so much more.
