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On the thirtieth anniversary of the greatest upset in rugby history, the spectres of the famous game 1978 12-0 victory almost inspired another legendary result. Those ghosts were present at the ground.
For the first time in 30 years, the entire victors from Munster’s celebrated team were present, including Christy Cantillon and Tony Ward – the point’s scorers on that most famous day.
It added to the palpable feel as they lunched with the current members of the Red Army, before presenting the team with their match day jerseys.
The excitement continued to build in Thomond Stadium, unrecognisable from the old ground which the Red Army called home, but no more exhilarating as the crowds surged before extravagant celebrations and the build up to kick off continued.
This was a genuine midweek All Blacks team – with only Joe Rokocoko retained from the starting fifteen of the Test match against Ireland.
Four debutants were in the match twenty two, as all front line All Blacks were rested with the exception of debutant captain Piri Weepu and the heavy artillery on the bench in the form of Brad Thorn and Mils Muliaina.
They were watched from the stands by the former 1978 All Blacks Graham Mourie, Gary Knight, Mark Donaldson and Bryan Wiliams – the men who completed the first Grand Slam for the All Blacks and won 17 of their matches on tour, losing just the one, to the Munster men.
Likewise for Munster, they were missing ten front line players who are on duty for the Irish national side – names such as Ronan O’Gara, Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan and David Wallace. Although on the evidence of Ireland’s 22-3 loss to the All Blacks some days earlier, this was not in particularly a bad omen.
They were not released as Ireland must win this weekend or lose their top eight seeding for the 2011 World Cup.
As the match commenced the inexperienced All Black team was unprepared for the unbridled ferocity that the Red Army unleashed on their illustrious visitors.
The Munster Dogs of War tore into the men in black, pressuring the world’s best in a manner unseen by their fellow British Test teams so far this tour, and were rewarded after eight minutes as fly half Paul Warwick kicked a long range penalty.
The All Blacks looked punch drunk but replied a minute later with a penalty to Stephen Donald, before another penalty goal and a sublime drop goal to Warwick made the scores 9-3 after just 21 minutes.
The young New Zealanders were looking to play expansive flamboyant rugby against the wrong team.
Munster prides itself on being a no frills team that plays the game patiently and grinds their foes down. They have not conquered Europe with abandon, nor tossing the ball around, but by no means are they monotonous to watch.
The All Blacks wanted to open the game up, but Munster was far too strong to allow that to happen.
When Denis Leamy was injured, Munster were temporarily reduced to 14 men and the All Blacks hit back as Donald went in under the posts.
But then a series of scrums on the All Black line concluded with Peter Stringer working Barry Murphy to the right side for a soft try that would have had the New Zealand brains trust furious.
The All Blacks came out after the half with clear intent and in the 45th minute Donald took a penalty goal kick to bring the scores to 16-13 – but not for the first time, the second ranked All Black number ten had an average game with the boot, missing kickable penalties that could have cost the game.
However, in the second half, the All Black game came to the fore: particularly their ability to lift in the last 40 minutes and defensively shut a team out of the game.
It was in the final ten minutes especially that the game began to shift, despite a constant swarm defence from Munster with Muliaina, Thorn and Richard Kahui bought on as the final replacements.
With minutes left on the clock, it looked as if Munster would repeat history as they were holding on against wave after wave of Black attack before Muliaina linked with Joe Rokocoko to score a try, ironically against their former All Black teammate Doug Howlett.
Munster had by this point played themselves to a standstill. But while history was not recurring, the match itself will again go down into the annals of Munster and All Black folklore.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.