One of the most talked about incidents from the first weekend of the Champions Cup came during Munster's draw with Bayonne at Thomond Park on Saturday evening.
Munster fans are famous for the passion they bring to these encounters, but one supporter overstepped the mark during the game. It came early in the second half, as a Ben O'Connor kick and chase was thwarted along the touchline by a Bayonne player, and some customary jostling between the two sets of players broke out.
As the tame skirmish was starting to break up, the arm of a supporter was caught on camera reaching in and grabbing the jersey of Georgian lock Konstantin Mikautadze.
The supporter cleanly pulled the Bayonne #5 back, and it appeared for a moment that Mikautadze might react. However, Tom Ahern stepped in and made sure nothing more came of the incident.
You can view the incident below:
Thomond Park faithful get stuck in #SUAF #MunvBay pic.twitter.com/8cpibMdNqV
— stiofanwalsh (@stiofanwalsh) December 9, 2023
On RTÉ commentary, Donal Lenihan wisely said fans should not be getting involved and it's hard to disagree. This kind of behaviour cannot be condoned.
Munster statement on supporter
On Monday evening, Munster released a statement saying the supporter in question had voluntarily contacted the club after an investigation into the incident was launched Sunday.
The club said the man would be banned from Munster home games, and that both the EPCR and Bayonne would receive an apology.
Here's the statement in full:
Munster Rugby can confirm that a decision has been made to prohibit the supporter involved in an incident at Thomond Park on Saturday from attending Munster Rugby home games.
An investigation commenced on Sunday with the supporter getting in contact with the province this morning to identify himself and apologise for his actions.
Munster Rugby will be contacting Aviron Bayonnais and EPCR to apologise for the incident.
