By Cathal Dervan

THE granny, God be good to her, always said to leave the best to last, which was quite a saying for a woman who raised eight children and something of an insult to everyone other than her youngest daughter.

Anyway, the eagle eyed out there will have scoured the sporting A to Z of 2006 in the last edition of the Irish Voice and spotted what was a glaring omission but also a deliberate one.

In the middle of the near 1,500 word look back at the highs and lows of the past 12 months there were mentions for everyone from the great Derval O’Rourke to War of Attrition, the Michael O’Leary owned horse that doesn’t carry excess baggage.

It was a near complete run down of what was an incredible and at times unbelievable year for Irish sport. But missing, simply because they deserve a column all of their own, were the men who wear the red shirts of the Munster rugby team.

Whenever this sporting nation looks back at 2006, those in the know will talk of an historic Sunday in Cardiff last May when Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley lifted the Heineken Cup high above his head.

It wasn’t just the fact that Munster beat Biarritz by 23 points to 19 that made that spring day so special. It was the fact that Munster had finally got their hands on a tournament that had denied them at the final hurdle twice previously.

For a decade the wonder that is the unmatched relationship between the Munster rugby team and the Munster rugby fans had traipsed across Europe in search of the elusive prize.

They enjoyed great days and nights in the South of France, they endured heartache at Twickenham and again in Cardiff as the cup escaped them at the last precious moment, and still they came back for more.

The Red Army on tour they call it, and what an army. From listening to them sing “The Fields of Athenry” in the small French city of Castres to watching the Munster team themselves sing “Stand Up and Fight” after a particularly memorable win away to Stade Francais, the Reds have made life on the rugby circuit very special.

There was always a danger, however, that the big one would elude them, that they would never win outright victory in Europe on adrenaline or passion alone.

Wasps, Leicester and Northampton had all rubbed Munster noses in it previously and Biarritz, for all their lack of support, looked well capable of doing the same.

It was the French side who took the lead with a most audacious try from flanker Sereli Bobo after just two minutes and totally against the script in front of an enthralled 75,000 strong crowd, most of them Irish.

Now it was time for Munster to live up to their anthem. Now it was time to stand up and fight and yes, they did just that, just as we always knew they would.

The fight back began with a Trevor Halstead try and a Ronan O’Gara penalty. Victory then edged closer when Peter Stringer stole over for a wonderfully cheeky try just before the break after spotting Bobo away from his desk as Munster scrummed down 10 meters from the Biarritz line.

That try helped the Reds to a 17-10 interval lead, and the dye was cast when O’Gara slotted over again early on the resumption, although Biarritz did ensure another nail-biting finish for the men from the south — would they have it any other way you might well ask — with three straight penalties without answer.

Now just a single point ahead and with 10 minutes remaining, Munster needed some divine intervention -– and it came via the giant screens at either end of the Millennium Stadium.

The television producer in charge of the match pictures decided to switch across to O’Connell Street in Limerick. The sight of 100,000 Munster fans praying for victory was flashed across every watching screen in Europe -– including the two giant monitors at either end of the Millennium Stadium.

It bordered on bad sportsmanship but Munster didn’t care. “When we saw the pictures of those fans the hairs stood on the back of our necks, there was no way we were going to lose then,” declared second row hero Donncha O’Callaghan afterwards.

Munster didn’t lose. One more O’Gara penalty and heroic defensive work ensured the cup was draped in red all the way back to Shannonside for a party that lasted a week.

“Irish by birth, Munster by the grace of God” read the banner at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday, May 20, 2006 and for once we were all just a little envious.

In any appraisal of 2006 theirs was the story of true achievement and true heroism. Alone they stood.