Yet again the sponsors' corny cliche about the Heineken Cup reaching parts that other competitions don't will apply for Munster's latest Euro odyssey to Newport's Rodney Parade.
Contemplating this crunch rematch in the immediate aftermath of their 26-18 win at Thomond Park, Declan Kidney commented dryly: "I'm glad it's not tomorrow." Well, tomorrow comes on Saturday and Munster will know they'll have been in a match.
Newport are bracing themselves as well. "We know what to expect from Munster," commented Gary Teichmann. "They hit us early in Limerick with 15 points in 10 minutes (13 minutes to be exact). We must get off to a good start."
Indeed, the ball is liable to be on the other foot, so to speak, on Saturday, when Newport, as is very much their wont, seek to hammer home the Rodney Parade factor with an early score or two.
Newport's recent form hasn't been spectacular, and they suffered a potentially significant psychological blow by losing their 13month, 18-match unbeaten home record to Cardiff on St Stephen's Day. Also, Shane Howarth, who was outstanding when first converted from full back to the outhalf playmaking/goalkicking role earlier in the season, has apparently gone off the boil and was utterly outplayed by Neil Jenkins that day.
Newport then played poorly in a 17-15 loss to Edinburgh Reivers last Friday. "We lost to a late (Duncan Hodge) penalty against Edinburgh last Friday, but that was a game we should really have won. Enough said about the referee," concluded Teichmann cryptically, partly in reference to the disputed late penalty and also the absence of any injury time even though a stoppage for Teichmann alone (his head wound required six stitches) lasted three minutes.
Teichmann will definitely be captain when the team is announced today, and the expectation is that Andy Marinos will partner Jason Jones-Hughes in midfield. The team will be studded with internationals and plenty of big name, big game forwards, such as Canadian prop Rod Snow and the outstanding Fijian captain, lock and primary Newport strike runner up front, Simon Raiwalui.
With Ben Breeze's two secondhalf tries at Thomond Park, Newport proved they can hurt Munster out wide; indeed, on the other wing by all accounts Matt Mostyn has maintained his prolific end-of-season form with Galwegians last season. With nine touchdowns to his credit, Mostyn is Newport's leading try scorer.
While it's conceivable that even Munster's season hinges on this game, there's no doubt that with two defeats already, Newport have reached the point of no return.
"We've got one of the toughest groups in the competition and we know that nothing less than two wins is good enough for us to go through," admits Teichmann. With Munster's travelling red army to ensure a 2,000 strong invasion, the game has long since been an 11,600 sell-out. Newport are laying on an "Irish night" tomorrow in Rodney Parade, complete with Irish music and live transmission of the Cardiff-Ulster game up the road.
Newport's match-day facilities will be of interest to the Munster Branch and their chief executive, Garrett Fitzgerald, as it is liable to be the fourth Rodney Parade game this year to generate in excess of £100,000 sterling. An international ground as long ago as the 1880s, Rodney Parade has been spruced up with a £250,000 investment from their benefactor, Tony Brown, a multi-millionaire from the furniture industry, who has ploughed an estimated £3 million-plus into the club since becoming chief executive 18 months ago.
In Brown's eyes, as important as the building of a dozen hospitality boxes at one end of the ground was the construction of both a family village and a temporary family stand at the other end.
Indeed, the signing of a dozen globetrotting internationals has been augmented by the employment of 60 off-field staff, headed by the expertise of Keith Grainger, formerly commercial manager at Newcastle, Leicester and Northampton.
Accordingly, they have quadrupled their revenue. For their first European Cup game against Bath, Newport generated £70,000 through gate receipts, £13,000 from their shop, £20,000 through the bars and £7,000 in programme sales. With regard to spectator facilities especially, you have to speculate to accumulate, and the reward has been average crowds of 7,000 this season.
Another feature of the St Stephen's Day marketing initiatives was the playing of the current pop chart hit Who Let The Dogs Out?, belted out before the game and after home scores, to a uniform response of "Newport".
Tight-knit and atmospheric, it will not be unlike Bath's Recreation Ground, though aside from being entirely enclosed the Rodney Parade pitch too has been upgraded.
Though it was laced with an anti-English venom for the Bath game (won 28-17), and a typically intense rivalry for the derby with Cardiff, it will be partisan without being hostile. There's no bad blood, after all, arising from the first game. The 200 or so Newport supporters who experienced Thomond Park still talk about it.
The chances are Munster's 2,000 won't be forgetting this one in a hurry either.
