They really are a unique bunch in many ways. On the one hand it is their shared homes in Limerick and Cork (once deemed a divisive factor) which insiders now cite as a means of keeping their togetherness and spirit fresh. Yet more than arguably any side in Europe, Munster are a team of the people and for the people.
As Munster coach Declan Kidney pointed out after Sunday's European Cup victory over Biarritz, Munster's only unrepresented county in this team is Waterford, and were the Cork Con hooker John Fogarty recalled to the squad next season this would be rectified. Furthermore, Mick Galwey ensures their tentacles extend to Kilkenny.
Only two (Jason Holland and John Langford) of the 22 players on duty for Munster on Sunday aren't qualified to play for Ireland. Holland will be available for Irish selection next season. All the rest are drawn from counties in the province. Leicester are cut from a similar cloth, with 12 English-qualified players in their starting line-up on Sunday. In contrast, Stade Francais had a foreign coach and five foreign players in their starting lineup, while Gloucester had only seven English players in a team coached by a Frenchman.
It's no wonder then that the feel-good factor Munster generate is so extraordinary. Thanks to the effect the Munster story is having in the province, rugby is taking hold in previously uncharted GAA bastions, most notably Alan Quinlan's county, Tipperary.
Last week St Joseph's from the hurling stronghold of Borrisoleigh made their debut in the Munster Schools' Junior Cup against fellow newcomers Killorglin Intermediate School from Kerry. Six schools from areas such as Thurles, Cashel and Clonmel met yesterday to discuss the feasibility of starting up a Tipperary schools' senior cup.
What's more, when the Munster Youths played their opening interprovincial against their Connacht counterparts earlier this season, seven of the team came from Tipperary and another from Kerry, further supporting the IRFU's contention that Tipperary is the fastest growing rugby county in Ireland. Small strides admittedly, which probably does no more than offset the relative decline in playing numbers in Dublin 4 and Belfast.
For all the work of Mark McDermott and the IRFU's provincial development officers, the biggest recruitment card in this whole process is assuredly the local Munster heroes. Now the flagship will sail proudly for the intervening 12 weeks until the semi-finals.
Leaving the draw until Wednesday week (live on RTE's 6.01 p.m. news), at least showed some good sense by ERC and a belated willingness to doff the cap to the Six Nations Championship. In the interim, no doubt, most Munster supporters will speculate on the halfdozen possible permutations available to Munster and conclude that coming first or third out of the hat (so earning a home semifinal at Lansdowne Road) and then being drawn against Gloucester is the pick of the six.
Yet there is a subtext which makes the long-time favourites Stade Francais at Lansdowne Road a more favourable option. The tournament organisers had decreed that were a Welsh team to reach the final it would be held at the Millennium Stadium. That having been ruled out, option B ordained that were a French team to make the final it would be held in the Stade de France.
Option C states that in the event of a French side failing to make the decider, a successful Irish team would be given the opportunity to host the final at Lansdowne Road. Hence, were Munster drawn at home in the semi-finals against Stade Francais, they would have the incentive of knowing that a win would assure them of another day out at Lansdowne Road in May.
ONE could certainly argue about the unfairness of having "home" advantage apply in a final but few on this side of the Irish sea would quibble about it. Having been drawn away in the semi-finals and final last year, Munster arguably deserve that much, but justice doesn't necessarily apply and sod's law decrees they'll have to do it the hard way, away to Leicester with the "carrot" of a final against Stade Francais in Paris.
This would not necessarily be viewed as disastrous, given Munster's lengthening list of memorable away wins against Colomiers, Saracens, Toulouse, Castres and Newport. Indeed, it might also lighten expectations.
Munster's Euro odysseys have generated £380,000 in prizemoney over the last two seasons. Whatever their destiny this time, another windfall is sure to come the way of Irish rugby. In the aftermath of last week's frenzied demand for tickets it's tempting to demand of the IRFU (who admittedly have already invested roughly £3 million on the ground since assuming ownership) that they further improve the facilities and increase the capacity at Thomond Park. If nothing else, it would be a fitting monument to this team and enable more genuine supporters to actually attend home games, while, say, a 25,000 capacity would double last Sunday's estimated gate receipts of over £100,000.
Yet it's also worth noting that this was and will remain Thomond Park's second full house of the season, the other being the pool game at home to Bath. Not even the Newport match filled the ground, when there was an estimated attendance of 9,000, nor was Thomond Park full for the Ireland-South Africa game.
While an expanded Thomond Park would satisfy demand for those two or three days a season when it would be full, it would also increase the empty spaces for other home games and conceivably diminish the bear pit atmosphere. And who's to say that thousands mightn't jump off the bandwagon if or when Munster don't maintain their existing high standards?
gthornley@irish-times.ie
