Limerick experience was 'pretty special'
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:11
Jet shoes: Wing Joe Rokocoko chased by Peter Stringer
New Zealand retained their unbeaten run with a nailbiting 18-16 win over Munster in their only midweek match of the year-end tour on Tuesday, but all the players and coaching staff rated the Limerick experience above the victory.
It took a 76th-minute try by flying wing Joe Rokocoko to seal the win for New Zealand against a determined Munster outfit at a packed Thomond Park.
The game, arranged to mark the 30th anniversary of Munster's win over the All Blacks, was a great spectacle - from the very moment when Doug Howlett, Rua Tipoki and Lifeimi Mafi launched into a Haka challenge against the All Blacks, who answered with an equally passionate rendition of their traditional war dance.
And on the field the action - mistakes aside - kept the appreciative crowd on the edges of their seats.
However, the Kiwis heaped lavish praise on the Munster spectators for creating such a special occasion.
"It was an awesome experience, and it just was just awesome to be part of it, and it was right down to 80 minutes," New Zealand No.8 Liam Messam said.
"It was good for our boys to dig in there and get that try," he said of Rokocoko's late score.
"They [Munster] have an awesome stadium, awesome fan base and they got really behind their team and they came hard at us."
Blindside flank Scott Waldrom said he was stunned that the crowd was hushed when Stephen Donald lined up a penalty or conversion - something unheard of in modern rugby.
"I can't believe they go quiet, the respect they show for the opposition when they have a shot at goal - that's something pretty special."
All Black coach Graham Henry also spoke of the experience, saying the win was "nice" but not necessarily such a big deal.
"I haven't been in at atmosphere like that very often," Henry said.
"Shows the spirit of the Munster team and the geographic area it represents. It was a nice to have a win but I think the occasion was more important.
"I think we played a lot of the rugby. We tried to be constructive most of the time. It was a very young inexperienced All Black side. It was a very good experience for them to be under pressure from 25,000 people in the stadium. Very good for their rugby development.
"It was one of those games where we just had to hang in and hope we could score a winning try. But we had opportunities."
He was right to stress just how special the occasion had been. The Munster fans are world renowned for their passion. It is with good reason, they bring extraordinary colour and noise and then they show everyone else up by demanding a deathly silence when someone comes to kick for goal.
The noise was deafening when Munster sprung out their own haka, led by Rua Tipoki. Doug Howlett, Lifeimi Mafi and Jeremy Manning joined in and the crowd went ballistic.
Munster lived off that emotion for 76 minutes. They just couldn't retain their shape and structure for the full 80 and that left captain Mick O'Driscoll in a hell of a dark mood.
"We possibly deserved more from the game. To lose by two points to probably the best side in the world with 10 or 11 of our players missing ... you would probably take it.
"We were playing New Zealand so you don't need anyone to tell you who you are playing. It is a privilege to play New Zealand.
"You don't need any more inspiration to play these boys. We came so close but yet so far. Certainly for fat lugs like me you don't know what is going on all the time. All you remember at the end of the day is the result and we were beaten."
* Did you see the game? Did you enjoy the experience? Let us know.
