My Day As Mascot by Colin Dolan

Colin Dolan tells us about his experience as a Munster Match Day Mascot for the ECC game against Sale Sharks, Jan 25th.

“I am a boy from the Munster Junior Supporters Club and I want to tell you about the day I walked out with the Munster squad.

My Mum helped me to enter the competition on the MRSC website and she screamed and ran into to me to tell me the fantastic news when I won!  I also got spare tickets to the match for my family so we were all in a great mood for the rest of the day.  At dinner that night my Mum called me to get my Munster jersey and take a picture for Munster to put in the match programme.

Christmas flew and New Years Day went by and then it was just one day before I would be walking out with the Munster team!! All of my friends and all of my family were waiting to see the match, I was so excited I slept with one eye open.  Then it was finally Sunday, the big day, and it was pretty scary.  We ate our breakfast with delicious pancakes and then me, my Mum, and my Mum’s friend and my friend left for Thomond Park.  It was a long journey but we finally made it there and I was delighted.  We went to the Munster Shop to get my Munster kit and tried it on to see if it was the right size, which it was, and rushed straight through to the tunnel access.  We got to see some Sale and Munster players come in and out of the tunnel from there.  Then when all of the players were done changing we went inside the training room and checked it out.  It was really cool and huge as well.

I sat on the bench and put on my boots like I was a Munster player.  I picked up Paul O’Connell’s runner which was wider than my shoulders!!

We left the dressing room and waited at the corner near there for the players to get ready.  They were all getting in a line and then the last person was the captain.  It was the greatest captain and player you could get, it was Peter O’Mahony! The deadliest of them all and the toughest of them all.  He took my hand leading us out to the edge of the tunnel and stopped, we were there for 30 seconds and I was talking to Peter O’Mahony but then the man said to go and we left to go onto the pitch.  All of a sudden when I was walking it felt like I was in slow motion with Peter O’Mahony dragging me along the ground and then I eventually got onto the pitch and it was one of the coolest things ever.  The crowd was roaring, the wind was blowing and it felt brilliant.  Peter O’Mahony stopped again and couched down and we took a picture. Then Peter let go of my hand and we went back to our seats which were really good and we had a class view.  Well, the match flew and Munster beat Sale Sharks by 65-10, which was a very good game to watch.

After the match I went back to the changing room with the players and shook all of their hands and then came out with a big gigantic smile on my face. I got to see Simon Zebo being interviewed as Man of the Match and meet so many players and get pictures.

When it was all over we went home and my day was made by my Mum and the whole rugby squad. Thanks to everyone who made the day unforgettable.”

As a member of the Junior Supporters Club you have lots of chances to win a place as a Match Day Mascot and other great prizes. If any of our young members have any stories, drawings or pictures of their match day experience, send it to ciaralyons@munsterrugby.ie and you might see it on the website or in a match day programme!