Not only that but you also never quite know what’s going to happen as there are always five or six teams who are capable

Not only that, but you also never quite know what’s going to happen, as there are always five or six teams who are capable of performing on their day.Wales’ semi-final defeat by England at Old Trafford five years ago was my last rugby league match. I was sad not to make it to the final, but the World Cup is the ideal place in which take your final bow There is no bigger stage.. It was a thunderous atmosphere and a stupendous match. As bravely as Bath tried it was also one-sided, in that throughout it was 15 men of Bath against what seemed to be the whole of the province of Munster. Inevitably Bath folded emphatically as Munster, who have never lost at this venue in the Heineken Cup, eventually ran out comfortable winners

It was a thunderous atmosphere and a stupendous match. As bravely as Bath tried it was also one-sided, in that throughout it was 15 men of Bath against what seemed to be the whole of the province of Munster. Inevitably Bath folded emphatically as Munster, who have never lost at this venue in the Heineken Cup, eventually ran out comfortable winners.
From the outset the sound emanating from the 14,000 or so shoehorned into the stands had acted like a giant hand shoving the red-shirted demonic Munstermen hard in the back.

But the Bath defence was no pushover and they returned as good as they got.The first quarter was fiery, and occasionally a stray spark in the forwards would flare up into something a more serious. It was not until the passion had settled into a white heat and the focus switched to possession and position that the match began to take shape.Munster, having panicked in front of their posts as Bath pressed hard, rashly went over the top and Jon Preston broke the stalemate in the 17th minute. When, four minutes later, flanker Alan Quinlan was shown a yellow card after treating Bath hooker Mark Regan like a tap dancer’s mat it looked sticky for the Irish side.Oddly, though, it galvanised Mick Galwey’s men and they piled on even more pressure, pinning Bath in their own half and forcing a couple of errors. Unfortunately, although both were within range Ronan O’Gara’s second penalty was ruled to have slid outside the right-hand upright, but at least they were back on level terms.Thus spurred on they began to pose their own threat through the middle and out wide. Left wing John Kelly was particularly prominent and especially adept at cutting through the Bath lines at will and at speed.

Centres Mike Mullins and Jason Holland were rugged and ready for anything. Munster appeared to be taking charge, slowly but inexorably asserting their will on their dangerous opponents. Bath’s cause was not helped when Regan emulated Quinlan and was himself dispatched to the sin bin almost on half-time for illegal footwork on a Munsterman. O’Gara left the touch judges in no doubt about the accuracy of this penalty.There was to be no let up after the interval. The red shirts streamed into enemy territory, and if Bath breathed a little more easily when Ian Balshaw managed to break the shackles, it was but a brief flirtation with freedom.Bath infringed and John Langford, a tower in just about every phase took a tap penalty and for the next two minutes or so the crowd was treated to a spellbinding passage of play as backs, hookers, props all combined brilliantly; there was a sharp break by Holland, a stunning little shimmy and telling switch from O’Gara then, with all Bath drifting right, it swung left again and Anthony Horgan steamed over.Having shown what they could do in the fancy goods department Munster then moved on to the hardware section, their ferocious forwards driving hard and true into the core of the Bath defence.