Munster magic in north Meath

THEY roll out like a drumcall of triumphs. Gloucester, Toulouse, Colomiers, Biarritz, Stade Francais, Perpignan, Leinster, Leicester and Llanelli.

All teams Munster have pummelled into submission on their Heineken Cup adventures over the past 10 years.

Regularly picking off great wins away from home, Munster have also turned Thomond Park into a near impregnable fortress.

A few weeks ago the London Wasps, led by Lawrence Dallaglio, paid a visit and were sent packing on another of those raucous, special occasions at the Limerick venue. The team feeding off the crowd and devouring their unsuspecting opponents.

Later this year will be the 30th anniversary of the most famous victory of all. Munster's 12-0 shock win over the New Zealand All Blacks in 1978.

That David v Goliath encounter has spawned a slew of books, songs and even a hugely popular, rollicking play, 'Alone it Stands,' based on the day when the Munster men shocked the rugby world.

A member of the Munster squad was Gerry Hurley, a Corkman who has made Kells his home and is the driving force behind the setting up of a club in the area - North Meath RFC.

Hurley, who played as a hooker, was on the Munster bench for the game against the famous All-Blacks. He didn't expect get a run out. It was the era when players could not be substituted unless there was a serious injury. He recalls how a bleak October day was lit up by a wondrous display from the men in red, before a heaving Thomond.  

"It was just a massive outing, a feverish day, on and off the field, the crowd got behind the team and carried them along, it was a great scalp," he recalled last week.

"That was the time when a substitute didn't get on the team, a player would have to be broken up totally before he would come off."

Lining out for Munster that day was some of great names in Irish rugby including Moss Finn and Tony Ward. The coach was Tom Kiernan. Christy Cantillon broke through for the Munster try, Ward slotted the conversion and two drop goals.

Hurley spent seven years as part of the Munster set up and now his son Denis is maintaining the tradition.

A few weeks ago Denis Hurley was awarded a two-year full-time contract with Munster. He is scheduled to finish his studies at UCC in a few months. From then on he will be a full-time professional with one of the best teams in Europe. He will be able to count Ronan O'Gara, Paul O'Connell and Co as his work colleagues.

Denis started playing rugby when he was just five and turned out for Navan under-age teams. He had a good teacher in his father who also coached youngsters at Balreask Old. When studying at UCC Denis joined the Munster Academy and has graduated through the ranks into the senior squad.

He has had a few run-outs with the first 15 in a number of Magner League games and will be looking to nail down the full-back berth.

Munster's gain could well have been Meath football's loss as Denis had displayed considerable promise in Gaelic football turning out for Round Towers and Kilmainham. He eventually decided to concentrate on the oval ball game. Gaelic football runs in the family as Denis's mother Mary, is the sister of Dave McCarthy who won an All-Ireland medal with Cork in 1973.

Much has been written and spoken about the way the distinctive esprit de corps in Munster rugby gives the team an added dimension.

Gerry Hurley says it was like that back in the 1970s when men, who thundered into each other in club games, were brothers-in-arms when the time came to pull on that red jersey.  It was the amateur, bite and bollock era when any animosities built up on the pitch were cast aside with a few pints in the clubhouse afterwards.

One thing is certain is that Denis will be able to enjoy far more salubrious training facilities than his father did in the Munster set-up, and pints are a definite no-no in the new professional era.

"There was a family aspect in the Munster atmosphere, you were part of a core group, we were all in it together. That was the big time then. You had Cork versus Limerick in terms of club games, and Limerick was a tough place to go to play anything, but it was totally different when you pulled on the Munster jersey.

"I remember training with Munster down in Fermoy, in the rain and sleet, under the car lights, that was it, there was nothing posh about it in those days."

Since the late 1980s Gerry Hurley, his wife Mary and family of two girls and two boys, have made Kells their home. The Hurleys moved from Cork and ended up in the Royal County via a spell in the US.

"I worked with a dairy company in west Cork, they were part of Express Dairies and we built a cheese factory in California, I went over there for the building of that and came back to Ireland, back to work in a plant in Virginia.

"We came back in '88, '89 when the Cork, Meath footballers were at it big time, all the controversy was raging," he recalled in an accent that remains very much rooted in his native county.

The Hurleys have two daughters, Grainne and Emma who currently plays for Navan while another son Patrick turned out for the Balreask Old teams in the past.

Gerry Hurley is optimistic that North Meath RFC will eventually become a permanent fixture on the local rugby scene.

He points out that the club has only been up and running since September. Teams are fielded at u-8, 10 and 12 levels. There's also a senior side, although as yet they don't have a place they can call home.

"We've no pitch or anything yet, so if there is a farmer around who wants to give us a field we'll take it. We play all our games away," he added.

With up to 30 players to call on, North Meath adult team has survived on a diet of friendlies so far. They have clocked up a few victories and they plan to enter a cup competition later in the season and take it from there. The basic club structures are in place and there's no lack of enthusiasm.

Setting up a new rugby club in an area where Gaelic games predominates is not easy. It takes time, money and a lot of effort.

"There's a lot of hard graft involved, trying to make contacts. The most important thing is that you are providing an outlet, an alternative sport for youngsters. That's our goal  and a lot of parents are delighted. Instead of their youngsters sitting, watching TV or whatever, on a Saturday morning they can get out and run around with a ball," added Hurley who for the past 12 years has directed his own pest control and hygiene company.

Having spent a lifetime involved in rugby, Hurley knows what's required to ensure North Meath RFC becomes well established.  Many will wish him luck as he seeks to bring the oval-ball game, and some of that old Munster magic, to a corner of north Meath.