Donnacha Ryan's return to Thomond Park will provide lasting memories

 

By Shane Brophy

 

Donnacha Ryan's return to Thomond Park probably couldn't have had a better outcome on Saturday night.

As a professional, the Nenagh man would have been hoping to get the win with Racing 92 against Munster in the Heineken Champions Cup but that fact they didn't lose probably gave both him and Simon Zebo (also playing his first game back at the Limerick venue) a satisfactory feeling against the club they love to its core.

And if they were in any doubt of what the fans still think of them they got it when they both came out for the warm-up with the early arrivals in Thomond Park giving them a great reception and when their names were read out on the team sheets, they got that extra cheer, not what opposing teams usually get on big European nights.

Zebo and Ryan were allowed to lead out the team prior to the match but Donnacha held back so he could bring out his young daughter Remi onto the field for the photograph which will take pride of place on the Ryan mantlepiece in Paris this week.

Donnacha was his usual self with his stats numbers showing why he has been such a big player for Munster, Ireland and now Racing 92 in his career. He made just one carry with the ball but crucially made seventeen tackles (missing just one), the second highest of all the Racing players behind Wenceslas Lauret who made a mammoth 25 on the evening.

 

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