Remember, remember, the sixth of…October? OK maybe that doesn’t rhyme but still Keego wants us to do it…
Welcome to blog number 7. This is meant to be a lucky number, but we will see…
Memories….
We are getting closer to my favorite part of a season that hasn’t even started yet. Yes, there is the start of the Heineken Cup, a few 6 Nations’ games and a league campaign. But my favourite game is the first meeting between Leinster and Munster.
I farkin love this game. Form goes out the window, the flags go up and the trousers go down…..ok maybe that’s just mine.
October the 6th! Mark the calendar, save it in your phone or tattoo it on your body like that neighbours fella from memento. Aviv……..eh….Lansdowne road is the venue (it’ll always be…..)! It IS the start of the season. Even before I started taking rugby a bit too seriously (like most of you) this was the match that I watched every time. I love the unadulterated anger that overrides the skill involved in this match. It is the one game of the year where the rage of a rivalry millions (maybe not millions) of years in the making produces. And it is feckin great to watch!
Using the years 2001 until 2010 (it was all I could find…..shoddy computer work by aul Keego). There were 17 matches, Leinster have won 9 Munster have won 8. There have been no draws. I am getting excited just typing this. I didn’t realize it was so close until I did my minimal research on it. I understand I am missing out the decade of Munster dominance, but alas, the internet appears to have been broken between the years 1997 and 2001 ;)
My favourite encounter was the one in October 2009. I was sitting in the grandstand of the RDS beside the Robin to my Batman (codename Shay – it has been changed to protect the guilty…..i.e. himself). A few Guinness’ in and Welcome To The Jungle starts.
Now, I have heard that song outside of the RDS and it hasn’t had any effect on me whatsoever, but when it plays straight after Thunderstruck by AC/DC in the RDS, something strange happens to me. I make a sort of caveman noise. It’s a deep guttural sound that I don’t make anywhere else. Anyway, the lads where led out by King Leo and there was a different look about them. Heads where higher, shoulders where tenser than usual. We knew there was going to be a big performance from the lads. 4 minutes in from the half way line Sexton smashed on over. It must be the predators giving that extra distance ;)
It was quiet until the 24th minute when he kicked over again from in front of the posts. I remember McLaughlin and Shaggy (I really miss that lanky fecker) having great games. The Darce finished a great move at 25 minutes and it was off to the races for us. The mood changed then. The grandstand looked at each other and nodded. We had this one! We had silenced the Munster fans by this point; we had won the collisions off the pitch (metaphorical of course). That game the blue army (always immense) a first and important victory in the match. The team always responds when we do our bit, and we tore into the Munster fans with the ferocity that the lads on the pitch did.
In saying that, it just meant we shouted louder than they did. That was our collision. And besides, I couldn’t understand a feckin word they were saying. I asked one of them if he was speaking German. I am still awaiting the answer.
I remember it being feckin freezing! I remember good RDS Guinness (as always). I remember the good banter with opposing fans (who left early). I remember finding a Munster flag in the actual toilet in the Horseshow house afterwards.
The team responded to us in the stands, who were responding to the team on the pitch....who were responding to...….you get the point. The blue army is quite similar to the Irish supporters over in London. We do not stop until the final whistle. This fills me with confidence for the upcoming season.
A wise man once said ‘To be the man, you gotta beat the man’.
And Leinster is head and shoulders above the rest.
Following on from last week’s blog about preseason, thanks to Shaun Hulme for the tweet about getting stuck in. I missed the first session because I had a split end. I will get to it and report back. If I survive.
The season is getting closer, the excitement is mounting. I have my jersey ready to be put on, and I am trying to find space in the RDS. If I get there, would people be interested in a HOR2 army pre match pint up? Let our gracious leader know.
keego (@nkeegan): Newbie blogger, former professional wrestler, sometime attempted rugby player (@TheThirsty3rds), professional procrastinator and attempted musician with a fondness for long walks on the bar, tea and the couch. Opinionated Leinster fan and constant gardener.
