When the full-time whistle went at Thomond Park, Tyler Bleyendaal stood admiring his successful conversion before removing his scrum-cap and going to join his Munster teammates.
Bleyendaal hugged Andrew Conway, scorer of that fourth and final try, Billy Holland stooped to shake hands with the match officials and Donnacha Ryan led the way towards the beaten Toulouse players.
On his way, though, a host of Munster teammates stopped him for a bear hug. As Francis Saili lingered in a clinch, young scrum-half Angus Lloyd patiently awaited his turn.
It was only after he shook the last hand of his vanquished foes that he stepped back, on his own amid the crowd, and took in his surroundings.
He knew what every one of his teammates knew. This was likely to be his final ever European game at Thomond Park in that famous red jersey. This summer, Ryan will move to Racing 92 in France. Nothing has been officially announced but the deal is done and there is no turning back.
Ryan will join Ronan O’Gara at Racing next season and his former Munster teammate’s praise of his immense performance only goes to show what a loss he will be to Irish rugby. O’Gara told The Hard Yards rugby podcast [from 28:55 below].
https://soundcloud.com/thehardyardssportsjoe/episode-10-rog-on-joining-irish-setup-joey-carberys-potential-and-the-art-of-working-a-referee
O’Gara does not believe the current Munster pack is as good as the one that helped the province to Heineken Cup glory in 2006 and 2008, but they’re not far off. He says:
“They’ve such hunger, and dog, and work-rate in them, and completely led by a brilliant Donnacha Ryan. At the minute he is playing absolutely great stuff.
“Last weekend, I was in the ground and at pitch-level. You could see he was so composed in terms of his calling strategy, in terms of his linking strategy with Tyler Bleyendaal and in terms of his running the game. It wasn’t just completely called by 10 and it was interesting to watch the on-field chemistry.
“It was interesting to see how the two of them went about choosing whether they peel, take it off the top or whether they drive, go to width or use the 10 channel. You could see the two of them having mini discussions.”
Ryan is 33 and in the form of his life. Billy Holland, his second row partner, is 31 and having the season of his.
Only one of these men will be at Munster next season. Ryan will be wrought to leave but hopefully, for Munster fans, he can leave them with a third European Cup on the docket.
