Catalonian bear pit not for faint-hearted

HEINEKEN CUP POOL ONE: GERRY THORNLEYreflects on the magnitude of the task facing Munster when they meet Perpignan in their home fortress

THERE WAS an interesting moment last Friday in Thomond Park as Ronan O’Gara lined up his first penalty at goal. The few hundred Perpignan fans, in time-honoured French tradition, began booing but were politely hushed and, having witnessed the Thomond Park custom extended to Jerome Porical, the Catalonian fans bought into it. It’s unlikely to catch on come Sunday though.

Until recent years, when the Top 14 insisted on the two teams taking the pitch at the same time, the Stade Aimé Giral supporters revelled in their local custom of " la bronca", ie, booing the away team when they took to the pitch first. If afforded Munster tomorrow, the visitors can take heart, for it is a form of respect. The louder the bronca, the more the away team is feared.

Over the decades, another tradition at the Aimé Giral is for the home team to then greet the away side with " la furia", a local word for a furious opening assault without any true English translation but is perhaps best interpreted as "the fury".

In a September rematch of last year’s French Championship final Clermont came to town intent on revenge and within 13 minutes found themselves two tries and 14 points down en route to a 19-3 defeat.

In latter years though, they developed as much of a reputation for comeback wins. Witness the recovery from 16-6 behind in the corresponding fixture against Clermont entering the last quarter, before winning 20-16.

Thomond Park is rightly regarded as one of the true fortresses of European rugby, but the Aimé Giral is right up there. Back in the 1990s, Perpignan went five years without a defeat at home and since losing to Biarritz by 23-15 in April 2007, Perpignan have played 43 competitive matches in their home ground, and have lost only one of them, winning 40 and drawing two.

They have won their last 23 matches at the Aimé Giral in all competitions over the past 16 months, dating back to their sole defeat since April 2008 – a 26-11 loss to Stade Français on September 6th last year. In all, they have won 32 of their last 33 competitive games at home.

Their record in Europe is just as daunting for any prospective visitors to their Catalonian bear pit. Finalists in 2003 and semi-finalists in 1999, USAP (Union Sportive des Arlequins Perpignanais) have only reached the quarter-finals four times in nine attempts, and haven’t earned a home quarter-final since their first attempt in 1998-99, thanks to their desultory away form.

This, too, is despite largely favourable draws, for they have had Italian opposition in nine of their 10 campaigns to date, which must be a record of sorts. Yet that opening round loss to Treviso in October was their 19th defeat on the road in 32 matches, and of their 13 wins away, eight have been in Italy and three in Wales, along with the quarter-final win away to Llanelli and semi-final win over Leinster in Lansdowne Road in 2002-03.

By contrast, Perpignan have won their last 16 home matches in the Heineken Cup since Wasps beat them 34-6 in the final round of matches in 2003-04.

Prior to that, their only other defeat in 29 Heineken Cup matches at home was when Leicester beat them 31-30 in December 2001. That’s 27 wins out of 29 at the Aimé Giral in the Cup. In only six of their 26 pool wins at home did they even grant the away side a bonus point.

USAP are a fiercely proud symbol of French Catalonia in the Pyrénées-Orientales, and the Aimé Giral is located about a mile and half walk from the city centre, though most take cars as many fans come from outlying rural areas. Hence, match-day is usually chaotic. The stadium takes its name from one of the club’s earliest club captains, one of seven Perpignan players who died during the First World War after helping the club to its first French Championship in 1914.

The club have always had a strong local identity, as evidenced by their one-club man of 13 years, loose-head Nicolas Mas and their young fullback Jerome Porical, who followed in the footsteps of his grandfather in becoming a French champion last June. Jerome’s father also played for Perpignan, but never won the title.

The budget of les sangset ors (the Catalonian colours of red and yellow, or strictly translated, blood and gold) has risen by €1 million to €13 million this season, but that's mid-range by Top 14 standards, and they tend not to be a team of stars.

That trend was bucked, however, last season with the signing of Dan Carter on a reputed €35,000 per match, mostly backed by one-off sponsorships, and though he was soon injured it had a hugely positive effect on the club.

Bridging a 54-year wait for their first French Championship last June (and seventh overall) has seemingly instilled further confidence throughout the club.

When Munster first came to Perpignan, in 1998-99, renovations had begun at the Aimé Giral and so the match (which Perpignan won 41-24) was played in the Catalan Dragons’ Gilbert Brutus rugby league stadium. When beaten 13-8 in January 2003, the Aimé Giral was being rebuilt and was unoccupied on one side.

The stadium has been expanded to a capacity of almost 15,000 in a project that ended last year, and was voted number six amongst the 10 best rugby stadiums in the world by New Zealand Rugby Worldmagazine last year, with Croke Park fourth and Thomond Park ninth.

Perhaps the single biggest barometer of the challenge facing Munster on Sunday is when one looks at Perpignan’s “previous” in these back-to-back fixtures. In six of the last seven seasons, Perpignan have been drawn away in round three before hosting the return fixture at the Aimé Giral a week later in December. They have lost all six away ties, but on every occasion they gained revenge the following weekend.

Hell hath no fury like a vengeful Perpignan or, put another way, no-one beats USAP twice, it would appear – at least not back-to-back on successive weekends with the second leg at Stade Aimé Giral.

Back-to-back transformation

Perpignan’s previous back-to-back fixtures when away in the first leg:

2002-03: Lost to Gloucester 16-33 (a); beat Gloucester 31-23 (h).

2004-05: Lost to Newport Gwent Dragons 14-27 (a); beat Newport Gwent Dragons 32-9 (h).

2005-06: lost to Leeds Carnegie 20-21 (a); beat Leeds Carnegie 12-8 (h).

2006-07: Lost to Castres Olympique 28-36 (a); beat Castres Olympique 30-3 (h).

2007-08: Lost to London Irish 16-24 (h); beat London Irish 23-6 (h).

2008-09: Lost to Leicester Tigers 27-38 (a); beat Leicester Tigers 26-20 (h).

Since April 2007 at Stade Aime Giral: (Heineken Cup and Top 14): Played 43, won 40, drawn 2, lost 1.

Heineken Cup record at Stade Aime Giral: Played 29, won 27, drawn 0, lost 2.