While the credit for Munster's victory over the All Blacks in 1978 has gone to the team and coach, I have always felt that a large part of the credit was due to our predecessors in the Munster jersey.

Munster teams had performed heroically against the All Blacks and were extremely unlucky not to have won on several occasions, but particularly when the All Blacks drew in 1973 with a last-minute penalty. That performance created a belief that Munster were going to beat the All Blacks some day and no one, therefore, could afford to miss the game.

The preparation was far less sophisticated than nowadays. Our training sessions were usually on a Wednesday night in Fermoy or Cashel. I cannot say that I looked forward to these sessions with great enthusiasm, as they often meant leaving Dublin early in the afternoon and returning early in the morning. Being a poor student at the time, I was relying on Donal Canniffe and Moss Keane for transport and the three of us generally travelled together.

Tom Kiernan, the coach, began to focus on the All Blacks game from the start of the season and he worked us hard at the training sessions.

On the night before the game we went to the office of a factory to watch a video of highlights of the All Blacks' previous games on tour, in which they had been unbeaten. I remember there was great difficulty in locating a video machine that night, which is why we finished in such an unlikely place.

The clearest memory of the video is that the All Blacks made a lot of mistakes and looked quite beatable. I believe we left that factory thinking it was just possible that we could do it.

On the day of the match we ran into traffic getting to the ground and I distinctly recall that we were short of time in the dressingroom. There was a discussion about whether we would go on the pitch before the match for a team photograph, because it would leave so little time for the warm-up. It was fortunate that we did, as there would have been no chance of taking the photograph after the match.

From the very start the game went our way. We won the first lineout around halfway and Donal Canniffe put up a high kick that the All Black full back dropped under his post. He appeared to have heard about the way previous All Black full backs had been treated by Munster teams.

From the following scrum, Tony Ward kicked a drop goal and soon afterwards Brendan Foley won a lineout standing at number one.

Kiernan had decided that if we put Foley at one it would confuse the All Blacks and I always joked with Brendan afterwards that the All Blacks did not even notice him standing there, so were taken by surprise when the ball was thrown to him.

From the lineout Ward put a cross kick over the All Black line which I think even Tony would admit was far too shallow. However, the bounce confused the All Black defence and broke for Jimmy Bowen at full flight.

Jimmy then released Christy Cantillon, who went over for our opening try. Wardy converted and we were 9-0 up.

Thereafter the benefit of the video machine became evident. The All Blacks tried to move into the middle of the field, where they brought Stu Wilson, the left winger, in between their centres. Seamus Dennison was ready for the move and Thomond Park was silenced by the crash as the two bodies met at full speed. It was clear to all that Seamus was badly hurt but he did his level best not to show it.

That set the tone for the rest of the game. The tackling, particularly by our backs, was superb.

There were accusations afterwards that we had played offside all day but there is a very fine line between being offside and going up to make your tackles in an aggressive fashion.

A remarkable feature of the game was that neither side was awarded a penalty in a kickable position and neither team attempted to kick a goal. The referee Corrie Thomas seemed to favour the defending side.

I remember one distinct occasion when the All Blacks were driving into a ruck about five yards from our line. I was well behind play and got dragged into their side of the ruck by one of their players. I was then duly treated to old-fashioned New Zealand justice before I heard the whistle. I was sure that I was going to be penalised for killing the ball or being offside but, to my delight, we were awarded a penalty for the tap dance that had been performed on my back

At half-time, with the score at 90, we realised we were in with a great chance. The crowd had been fantastic.

Over the years many have asked me what is it that makes the Munster players perform like they do when they put on the red jerseys. With all due respect to Musgrave Park in Cork, the spirit of Munster rugby has been fashioned and developed in Thomond Park and, to me, it is the soul of Irish rugby.

The second half continued much like the first. The All Blacks dominated the lineout but their binding was very poor and it got to the stage where we were quite happy to let them win the ball. We would catch their scrum-half in possession and turn the ball over.

Late in the game we had a foot rush near the left-hand side of the park and, after receiving a pass from Colm Tucker, Wardy dropped another goal in tight circumstances to push us out to 12-0.

A few minutes later we wheeled an All Blacks scrum close to the wall in front of the stand at their own 10-yard line. Their scrum broke up and we kept pushing. I think their front five almost finished up over the wall. It looked for a minute like some of the crowd were going to drag them over and I think we knew then that they were beaten.

When the final whistle did blow the place erupted. It took us an age to get off the park and when we did, we were all in a state of shock. Those of the team who had played against the All Blacks previously realised the significance of the occasion far more than the youngsters, such as Mossy Finn, Jimmy Bowen and myself, who three years previously had played together with the Irish schools side. The young players hardly expected that it would have become the occasion it has.

The All Blacks were superb losers. It cannot have been easy for them, as they had won all their matches on the tour and subsequently won the rest. From my discussions with them in later years, they made it clear that if they were going to lose a game on the tour they preferred it was against the Irish, with whom they have always had a great affinity.

I have met several of them in the years since 1978 and I do not believe there is one who has begrudged Munster our victory.

I was fortunate to have been part of that victory but I was also fortunate to have been part of a great Munster team. It was a team full of character and full of characters. Thirteen of the side played for Ireland and the three who did not - Les White, Greg Barrett and Christy Cantillon - would undoubtedly have been capped in any other era.

A great team spirit existed, for which credit must go to Donal Canniffe, the captain, and Tom Kiernan, the coach.

The celebrations were greatly subdued when the sad news came in that Donal Canniffe's father had died suddenly after hearing the result. Moss Keane accompanied Donal on the sad journey to Cork.

I am looking forward to meeting everybody next weekend for our get-together, where Donal will finally get the chance to give the speech that he couldn't give 20 years ago.