Rivalries are an integral part of sport, it's one of the aspects that keeps an audience engaged and keeps fans passionate through the good times and bad. Rugby is no different with rivalries throughout the game, whether it's Leinster v Munster, England v Scotland or Australia v New Zealand.
However one of the more unique rivalries that has popped up in the URC over the past decade has been the one brewing between Munster and the Glasgow Warriors. Even though they have been in the same league for a long time, it's rare enough to see sides from different countries build up such a rivalry as Munster and Glasgow have done.
With the two set to face off once again in the URC semifinals at Thomond Park, we decided to have a look back at when this rivalry started and how's it gone over the past few years.
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Munster v Glasgow Warriors: When Did The Rivalry Start?
To pinpoint the start of the rivalry isn't the easiest part as it has really been one that gradually built over time. One of the first incidents we found dates back over a decade to 2013 when both Glasgow's scrum-half Niko Matawalu and Conor Murray were cited. Matawalu was alleged to have bitten Munster legend Donnacha O'Callaghan while in a separate incident Conor Murray was also alleged to have elbowed Matawalu during the contest which ended 6-13 in favour of Munster.
Both players were eventually cleared with the disciplinary panel judging that Matawalu had bitten O'Callaghan by mistake.
On the balance of probabilities, that while Niko’s teeth had come into contact with Donncha O’Callaghan’s arm, causing injury, this contact was accidental and therefore not an act of foul play.
Some may point to the 2014-15 Pro12 final in Ravenhill when Munster were beaten 31-12 by a Glasgow team which boasted the likes of Leone Nakarawa, Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell. Glasgow were dominant that day in Belfast and were well deserving winners but beating Munster on Irish soil may have been a catalyst for the rivalry.
However we think a more accurate pinpoint comes a couple years later in January 2017. The two were facing off in a group stage match in the Champions Cup in Scotstoun and it was a very tense affair.
The game caused a lot of controversy in the eyes of Munster fans as they felt Glasgow were targeting Conor Murray with late hits and direct hits at his standing leg. Murray had to receive treatment at points but managed to stay on and play 74 minutes.
“Oh they didn’t mean it”
Would ya stop. It was Roy Keane on Alfie Haaland level targeting
Makes it a top 5 favourite victory ever though https://t.co/UZ4iTm4g6F
— CaolanSRugby (@CaolanSRugby) June 9, 2024
There was several niggles there after with John Ryan even getting into a tussle with both Zander Fagerson and Alex Dunbar. It would be a night to remember for the Munster faithful as a late Francis Saili try gave the Red Army the 14-12 away victory.
14 January 2017; John Ryan of Munster with Alex Dunbar, left, and Zander Fagerson of Glasgow Warriors during the European Rugby Champions Cup pool 1 round 5 match between Glasgow Warriors and Munster at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
The rivalry was truly born then and every match afterwards there was a little more bite. Since that game in January 2017 there has been 10 cards dished out in this matchup for both sides, including one red card each.
It was the rivalry which the players took seriously as Simon Zebo said back in 2020 on the Offload Podcast when he told a story about the Munster's players reaction to finding out Zebo was following Glasgow Warriors flanker Ryan Wilson.
A couple of years back we used to have a lot of games against Glasgow, whether that was Champions Cup back-to-backs or playing each other in the league and all the games used to be spicy let's say.
There was one day where you [Ryan Wilson] had followed me on Instagram and I clicked the follow button back because we had played against each other so much and I had a screenshot sent in to a WhatsApp group where a few players I cannot name, about three or four of them were literally like 'what the fuck is this! You're following this clown!'
So yeah I got a bit of heat from that and had to immediately unfollow
It may come off as laugh and jokes some years later but there is an air of truth to the rivalry. Wilson himself was a notorious wind-up and got himself into a fair amount of trouble against Munster including being given his marching orders mere days after that podcast was published in November 2020.
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Who's Had The Upper Hand In Recent Matchups?
One of the best things about this rivalry is how often they've faced each other. They've been drawn in the same groups for the Champions Cup and of course met in the league in both the regular season and playoffs.
Each side have had their moments including a Rory Scannell penalty at the death to give Munster a comeback victory and Glasgow's first half blitz against Munster at Thomond Park last season.
Since 2020 Munster are up 3-2 in matchups between the two and some of those games have been real old school affairs. Glasgow have a 13-11 win from 2022 and Munster have the famous 14-5 win in the URC playoffs last season.
That playoff win for Munster was of course the first step on their way to winning the URC crown last season and it was a defeat which would've left plenty of the Warriors faithful bitter. Having beaten them convincingly in Thomond just a month prior, Glasgow were favourites heading into the game and in front of a home crowd in Scotstoun it promised to be great night for all associated with Glasgow Warriors.
However, Munster had other ideas. A first half try by Malakai Fekitoa gave Munster first blood and almost as soon as play restarted Glasgow's match got from bad to worse. Fly-half Tom Jordan was sent off for a high tackle on Conor Murray and Munster capitalised from there. Antoine Frisch crossed over minutes laters to put Munster 14-0 up before the half hour mark.
A Kyle Steyn try wasn't enough for the Warriors as they were sent packing in their own backyard by the eventual champions, losing 14-5.
They've played once already this season when Munster had a convincing 40-29 win in front of the Cork faithful at Musgrave Park. They were helped by Glasgow picking themselves up two yellow cards.
So then that leads us to this weekend where Munster play the host in the URC semifinals. After a gutsy win against a good Stormers side Glasgow will have their tales up and believing that they can cause an upset in Limerick. Munster come into this game with confidence too after finishing the URC regular season on top and beating the Ospreys comfortably enough in their quarterfinal.
So settle down, get the popcorn ready for Saturday night as old rivals meet again. Whether there's a lot of scores or some scraps it promises not to disappoint as both sides wage war for a place in the URC final.
