Munster return to the scene of one of the most emotional moments in the province's rugby history this Saturday, as they travel to Paris to face Racing in their rescheduled Champions Cup pool game.
The original clash was postponed due to Anthony Foley's untimely passing, and despite Racing being out of contention in Pool 1, Saturday's encounter promises to evoke much of the emotion Foley's charges and Munster fans experienced back in October.
Munster captain Peter O'Mahony, whose troops have rallied around him accordingly during Munster's extraordinary recent run, yesterday provided an insight his side's mindset ahead of a difficult trip, explained how Munster's players and coaching staff will deal with another seismic psychological test this weekend:
We’re not going to think about Axel any more than we do every other week. The style of play we’re playing has him written all over it so we reference him in every meeting, more than once.
I was asked was he going to be at the back of our minds for the week but he’s the forefront of our minds every week, so it’s not going to be any different that way.
It wasn't just Munster who were left devastated by October's tragic events, of course; Foley's former teammate, Ronan O'Gara, is currently the Top 14 club's defence coach, and was hit as hard as anybody following a phonecall from Munster CEO Garrett Fitzgerald.
O'Mahony, however, believes that all sentiment will be parked outside the Yves-du-Manoir for Munster's Parisien return, despite Racing languishing in 8th in the French top flight:
Rog is too big a competitor to let this one slip and he’ll be teeing them up for us so we are preparing for the best team we’ve played against this year.
And the quality they have and the performance they are going to put in as I said he will be lining them up for us so we’re going to have to be good.
It is a surprise [that Racing are out] but with the quality of the group that we’re in, there’s always going to be a big team to lose out.
I don’t think being out changes Racing’s mentality at home, we’re preparing for the best team they can put out and 100% they’re going to field a strong team. So we’re going to have to be excellent to get a win over there.
It’s a hard enough place to go and play as it is without them having the crowd on their backs if they are in trouble. So we need a big week.
Kick-off in Paris is at 16:45.
