This match was anxiously awaited. Since the day that the Magners League fixtures were published there was both trepidation and excitement – our very first match of the season was to be against Munster, the defending league champions.
Things started off well enough but we had a strange Munster crowd beside us – the girl insisted on leaving three seats between us and them. In front there were two older guys who were great fun..
“Sounds like you’re after blood”, the one in the hat said.
” Yep, anyone’s – so long as it’s real blood and not from a joke shop” I said, referring to the Harlequins’ Bloodgate scandal.
It’s not true to say that the team that scores first wins. Glasgow scored first and then Munster and the penalty attrition continued against Munster right up to half time when we had managed to put on 12 points to their 3. Munster looked frustrated and despite a referee who seemed not to see most of the offences against Glasgow we did, they were down to 14 men by the start of the second half. An experience they were to relive at the 64th Minute.
Anyhow after the teams came back out Munster continued the war of attrition against Glasgow and added 6 points in penalties. making it 12-9.
We substituted 2 players, Munster used their entire bench at about 65 minutes and within about 1 minute, Ruraidh (you say it as Roory) had scored a try and was led off the field injured. The conversion was taken and won taking Glasgow to 22-9.
But in the final 10 minutes the tension in the stand was unimaginable. Angry Munsterites are not to be tangled with and the pressure just made them angrier, they became careless and were lucky that the referee was welsh cos he let them away with countless yellow card offences (well, maybe just 3 or 4). It was almost impossible to watch as we knew that we were only a few penalties and a converted try away from a narrow loss. But the boys fought well.
Thanks to a newly installed “real time” ref clock at Firhill, the crowd was able to count down the last ten seconds to victory.
We beat Munster! Big style.
JohnF
NGM's blog 