'Lack of respect' has Contepomi seething

Although it was a small moment in the match, and had no bearing on the outcome, there has been a slightly bitter fall-out to Munster's record 33-9 thumping of Leinster on Sunday, in particular the farcical scenes which accompanied a first-half missed penalty by Felipe Contepomi.

As Contepomi addressed a 38th-minute penalty about 30 metres out from the Munster posts, bringing play back 50 metres to the crowd's annoyance at the behest of a touch judge for an incident involving Alan Quinlan, the ball fell over in the breeze and Munster's Donncha O'Callaghan, Frankie Sheahan, Ronan O'Gara and Marcus Horan rushed forward.

Referee Simon McDowell decreed that the ball could be reset, as is correct for a penalty as opposed to a conversion, but as Brian O'Meara held the ball for Contepomi, he was further distracted by some of the aforementioned players encroaching the 10 metres again, pointing to their wrists and clearly complaining to the referee that the Leinster and Argentina captain was using more than the requisite minute.

The accompanying boos from many in the 8,000-plus crowd quickly gave way to loud cheers as Contepomi pushed his kick wide, but the player himself was clearly annoyed, venting his anger at Munster players and the referee there and then, and again to McDowell at the end of the first half, and he was still seething afterwards.

Having maintained that the referee had erred in allowing Quinlan to pinch a Leinster line-out in the build-up to their second try, early in the second-half, when Munster had an extra man, Contepomi commented: "I think if you want to improve the league, you have to improve all around the league - the refereeing," he said when interviewed by Newstalk radio afterwards.

"Then we speak about respect in the game. I don't mind the crowd booing or shouting when you are going to take a kick, but the players? That's a lack of respect. It's difficult to speak when you lose because that didn't change the result. Munster were a much better side than us, but it really frustrated me in the first-half when I had a penalty, the (Munster) players were shouting when I was going to kick. It's a lack of education or something. It's strange that their coach (Declan Kidney) is actually a teacher. Maybe he could put some of his knowledge into the players as well."

The Munster captain, Anthony Foley, reacted a little indignantly. "That's a little strange," he said in reference to Contepomi's comments. "Obviously it's not nice when something like that happens. We have a code of silence for placekickers but that happened at a stage of the game when the players and the crowd were getting frustrated with some of the decisions, and you want to put pressure on the opposition.

"I'm not sure what was said to him, I was standing under the posts. We were exposed to that last season when Paul Volley of Castres was swearing and shouting as 'Rog' (O'Gara) was taking kicks. It's not something you want to see in the game. We were not too happy about how long he was taking with his kicks, but I'm sure it was a one-off occasion." During the interval, the crowd were implored on the public address system to respect Munster's traditional code of silence during all place kicks.

Meanwhile, Thomond Park, scene of Munster's historic win over the All Blacks in 1978, and other European Cup triumphs, is in danger of being relegated to division two status.

It was confirmed last night that the Munster Branch had put pen to paper for the purchase of a 10-acre greenfield site on the Dublin Road, on the outskirts of the city.

The price was not disclosed but a leading rugby figure involved in negotiations for the land deal was emphatic it was not purchased as a replacement for Thomond Park.

There was, he agreed, uncertainty about the future of Thomond, especially after the recent act of vandalism, which ruled the pitch unplayable for four weeks.

"The IRFU, who own the ground, attempted to put a package together to buy adjoining properties to allow them to upgrade, but without success. They had expressed concerns about safety and security and also viewed the ground as inadequate in terms of spectator comforts and capacity. Now, Musgrave Park seems to be the preferred choice for investment and that is where the big money is being directed." he said. The reason behind the purchase of the Dublin Road site, he said, was primarily because the Munster Branch has no facilities in Limerick.