Munster legend Alan Quinlan has questioned his former side's fans in the lead-up to their sold-out, top-of-the-table clash with old enemy Leinster this evening.
A year ago, Munster were in the doldrums; average attendances were at a low ebb - with crowds as small as 11,000 rolling into Thomond Park, and just 13,000 showing up for the season's first interpro, versus Ulster, on October 30th. A month later, just 2,000 more wathced their home defeat to eventual Pro12 champions Connacht at the same venue. That 18-12 reversal kick-started a run of 12 defeats in 20 fixtures, culminating in 2015's biggest embarrassment - a 24-7 collapse at home to Leinster on December 27th, their fifth defeat on the spin.
Much has transpired in the intervening 12 months, of course; the tragic passing of head coach Anthony Foley, under whose guidance it might have gone unnoticed that Munster's ship had steadied its course significantly, seemed to fully galvanise an entire province. But Quinlan hasn't forgotten that spell last season, where a fundamental disconnect - and not this new-found unity - saw 'Munsterness' teeter on the brink.
"...another point needs to be raised," he writes in his Irish Independent column today.
When it comes to derby matches, everything changes. The build-up is bigger, highlighted by the fact that the sold-out signs are visible again - although this raises the question: 'Where were all these people last year when Munster were struggling?'
It is a thorny subject which I think about at times. While on the one hand, it's good that people are excited about Munster again - it also has to be said that the team needed the terraces filled last year when they were struggling for confidence.
It's an issue which has scarcely been addressed during Munster's recent resurgence amidst tragic circumstances; the elephant in a packed-out Thomond Park. Even for last season's home defeat to Leinster, there were 4,000 empty seats. Conversely, this year's edition will break a Thomond record.
Munster's famous fans are back, but a huge portion of them had all-but abandoned their side in bleaker times (on-field, obviously) last season.
Donal Lenihan discussed as much with us when we caught up with him for Balls.ie's 'Cork Week' earlier this month, and reasoned that the returning droves of fans were not quite motivated by Munster's recent run of good form, but felt compelled to snap out of their prolonged sulk in light of more important and tragic matters:
Unfortunately, I think that Munster fans - not only in Cork and Limerick, but right across the world - they almost became greedy with the level of success Munster achieved in the mid-noughties. You had that desire to win the Heineken Cup, and [they won] two in three years with some phenomenal players.
But look, there was always going to be a transition in Munster Rugby. The likes of the O'Garas, the O'Connells, Alan Quinlan - these players were always going to be difficult to replace when they retired. It has taken time. In the middle of that, you had the redevelopment of Thomond Park, and Limerick is now the base for all of Munster Rugby. And Cork sportspeople are proud - they always feel they can contribute - so there was disquiet, there's no point in saying anything other than that.
But I think it's amazing... Maybe it took the sad passing of Anthony Foley to knock people back into reality, and get everybody behind Munster Rugby. The reaction since his sad passing has been phenomenal. The support from the terraces against Glasgow, the day after the funeral, was amazing, and I hope that can continue now.
In the first episode of our new rugby podcast, Balls and Mauls, Leinster legend Shane Byrne - a former international teammate of Anthony Foley - explained that Foley's passion for Munster was such that he wouldn't care one way or another, once that famous Thomond roar was restored.
In early December, a rawly honest Keith Earls revealed his ire - and indeed embarrassment - that it took the passing of Munster's head coach before they began playing to his lofty standards. Byrne, however, maintained that a reconnect between player and supporter at Munster was the ultimate homage to the late, great 'Axel'.
It's an awful shame that it did take that [for Munster to start playing 'like Munster' again]. But if Anthony's legacy is this amazing run that they're going on, isn't it great? Because one of the things he tried to work very hard to get back - never mind the style of rugby that they're playing now - was that link between team and supporter, which was fraying a bit. He worked very hard on that. And, unfortunately, it took his demise to get it back, but it's back with a vengeance.
And every time it's talked about, it's referred back to [Foley] as well, because this guy should never be forgotten. If Anthony's legacy is this upsurge, well look, somewhere he'll have a smirk. He'll like that.
In any case, today's Munster-Leinster derby is set to break an attendance record for a Pro12 game at Thomond Park, with an additional 100 temporary seats added to the venue to ensure as many people as possible can witness the feverishly-anticipated spectacle.
The previous attendance record of 26,100 at Thomond Park for a Pro12 game was set when Munster beat Leinster in the 2011 Final.
