Munster Reaction to Semi Final Draw.

For the third time in three years Declan Kidney (pictured) will take his Munster squad to France for the semi-final of the Heineken Cup. Munster were drawn out of the drum just after Castres, by Welsh legend Gareth Edwards and that meant the French were handed the advantage of playing the game on home soil, albeit at a neutral venue.

It’s the choice of venue that will now be watched with interest and Munster team manager Jerry Holland said. ” The ERC have a responsibility to cater for our travelling fans and therefore to pick a stadium that is a rugby stadium and easlly accessible.”

Holland wenton to say that Parc des Princes would be ideal from a Munster point of view but it’s likely that Castres will disagree and push hard for a venue in the south of France. One venue that has been mentioned is Lyon, which is about a six hours driive from Castres but again, it can be expected that the Castres will look for somewhere like Beziers which is located between Perpignan and Montpelier and about 100 kilometres from Castres.

Wherever the game is played it means another expensive outing for Munster’s loyal and now famous supporters and it was an issue that was foremost in Kidney’s mind when asked for his reaction to the draw. “I’m disappointed for our supporters who are now being asked to travel to France for the third time since the beginning of January.”

On top of that, our game takes place a few weeks after Ireland play France in Paris. So all in all it makes things difficult for our supporters. But they’re a very special group of people and it’s a privilege to be involved with them. They’ve been magnificent in the past and are so important to us.”

The game itself will, according to Kidney, “test our resolve” while Castres captain Gregor Townsend was quite happy to have ‘home’ adavantage if not with the opposition, “We are not noted for our travelling support so we are delighted with the home draw. However I would have preferred to avoid Munster. I consider themselves and Leicester the favourites to win the trophy and with almost the entire Ireland pack they are a formidable side.”

The irony of drawing a side from their own Pool wasn’t lost on the Scot. “I don’t know if you’d call it ironic but somehow I just knew it was going to happen. I was standing beside Mick galwey and I nudged him and said, “We”ll get you”, and sure enough that’s the way it turned out.”

The fall out from the last game which saw Munster cite Ismaella Lassissi and Castres lodge acounter citing was dealt with by Holland when he said, “There is an onus and responsibility now on the two managements to ensure that the emphasis is on the game and that what happened in the past is consigned to history.”