Yet again the bragging rights go to Munster after the second round of the Interprovincial Series in the Rebel County.
At first things were thrown into disarray when the venue of the game had to be changed due to waterlogged pitches in Cork. Thankfully the match was quickly relocated to the grounds of Crosshaven RFC on the outskirts of the city.
I travelled down to Cork along with the rest of the Leinster squad on the Friday afternoon, to give us some time to relax and have a team meeting that evening. Everyone seemed to be focused on what we needed to do in order to win. We talked about personal responsibility to each other, and what we expected from each other on the pitch. Everyone knew our game plan, which was quite simple – and if we applied it, we would win the game.
But as the saying goes, talk is cheap. It wasn’t the best weather for a game when we finally got out there. While the rain stayed off, there was a howling wind which would have a severe effect kicking and passing. We opted to play against the wind in the opening half.
From the off we were on top of Munster, applying pressure at every breakdown. We were in control of the early exchanges, which resulted in a penalty for us. However, with the wind at their backs it only took one kick to get Munster into our half, and with our high infraction count they were soon awarded their penalty. This trend continued through the first half, leaving the half-time score at 9–6 to Munster.
In the second half we played all the rugby – but to be fair to Munster, their defence was tenacious. We were having problems with our lineout, an area that had been such a strength in previous games. And our penalty count was still too high, which allowed Munster to relieve some pressure.
We did manage to get over the line for a try, but with horrible luck for us it was disallowed, as the referee could not see whether or not our player was in touch, and the assistant referee didn’t provide much assistance. So the final score remained 9–6 to Munster.
We come away from this game hugely disappointed. But the competition isn’t lost yet, and we need to improve on a few areas before the next game against Ulster in two weeks’ time.
Elsewhere, the rugby community have received great news that the sevens version of the sport has been accepted into the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro. It will definitely widen the appeal for people to play the game the world over.
Sadly it has come about 10 years too late for me to live my dream of competing at the Olympics, but it surely presents a great opportunity for Ireland’s next generation to get a crack at a gold medal.
Fiona Coghlan is an Irish International rugby player. Her column appears every fortnight in Metro Éireann
