Munster are on the rise but they are not getting ahead of themselves.
Right now, they are determined to enjoy every single win that they earn. Taking each win as it comes – easy, hard or harder – and take the beers that are handed out afterwards.
The Munster squad have been through it all over the past six weeks. It has been six weeks since head coach Anthony Foley passed away and, since then, there have been wakes, funerals, matches, disciplinary hearings, away days, injuries, comebacks, Ireland duty and Maori All Blacks to deal with.
Through it all there has been the reckoning that Munster have rediscovered themselves. They have reconnected with the Munster family and shown to the world that they have a hell of a lot of fight left yet.
“It’s a pity,” Keith Earls told us, “that it’s after taking our head coach to die for us to play the way he wanted us to play.”
The regret will be that Munster are playing the Foley way now when it was one of their coach’s main bones of contentions after he hung up his boots. “Why would you go away from what you’re good at?” Foley once asked us.
The current squad are not getting hung up on regrets, though. They are hoping to create a whole new legacy and keep the Munster spirit thriving.
That is being helped, says Earls, by a post-match custom that now means the world to the players. Earls comments:
“I never enjoyed the highs, which is weird because I thought rugby was everything. [But] it’s straight on to the next week and next game.
“You never… I mean the lows are a million times worse than the highs.
“I suppose that is something that Rassie has brought in now with Munster. If we win a game, we’ll all have one drink with each other in the dressing room to celebrate the victory and enjoy the win – to enjoy the moment – and we’ll move on on the Monday.
“There’s not a lot of speaking in the dressing room straight on afterwards. Everyone is just enjoying it. Enjoying the wins is the main thing.”
Munster took their custom into the Ulster dressing room after their narrow 15-14 win over Les Kiss’ men at Kingspan Stadium, late last month. It was a lovely way to thank Ulster for all of their kind words and moving tributes to Foley.
Earls is immensely proud of those Munster men that entered the Ulster dressing room armed with boxes of beer. He says:
“It’s how relationships are built. I’m proud of the whole community; proud of the four provinces of Ireland. There has been a massive response.
“Ulster, Leinster… they’ve all went through some bad circumstances so, the way everything comes together from a game of rugby is unbelievable and Ulster coming in for a drink with the lads was unbelievable, especially after losing at home, at Kingspan. It just shows that there is more to rugby.”
There certainly is more to rugby but forgive us for getting carried away, as usual, this weekend.
Munster have Treviso at Thomond Park this Saturday. We’re expecting the beers to be cracked out after that one.
Dick Clerkin makes his GAA Hour debut to talk about a wonderful career and argue passionately with Colm Parkinson over Sky Sports GAA. Subscribe here on iTunes.
