Thomond Park will tonight say goodbye to three Munster legends and while Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray have already enjoyed a fanfare there’s a nice symmetry to Stephen Archer’s farewell.
The trio say their goodbyes to the Limerick faithful in this evening’s crucial interpro derby against Ulster (7.35pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
The 37-year-old tighthead prop, who is the only player to have made over 300 appearances for the province, made his first Munster start against tonight’s opponents back in October of 2009.
The try-scorers that night were Jean de Villiers, David Wallace, Paul Warwick and Keith Earls, while Ronan O'Gara also contributed.
A lifetime ago.
It’s still a memory that sticks out for the Cork man, who announced his retirement last month.
Archer actually played the full 80 minutes that night, and in something of a full-circle moment, one of his most outstanding achievements for a front row forward then aged 35, was a double-header of full games at the end of the regular season in 2023.
A win and a draw over the Sharks and Stormers in April 2023 paved the way for their unlikely title-winning run through the play-offs.
With Munster struggling for fit players, Archer refused to buckle, even when faced with Springboks Steven Kitshoff and Ox Nche.
Asked what memories stand out ahead of this evening’s final game at Thomond Park, he said: "Probably my first start at Thomond Park, my second cap, we played Ulster in an interpo derby, funnily enough.
"We were coming off a loss or two and [former Ireland and Munster lock] Mick Galwey, who was involved at the time, came in and chatted with us before the match.
"It was an emotional night for me, starting my first game for Munster."
He added: "The match against Toulon [in 2018] when Andrew Conway scored that winner at the end, that was an incredible buzz.
"The Glasgow one after Axel’s [Foley’s] funeral [in 2016] was very emotional. There’s been a load but that's just three off-hand that I'll remember for the rest of my life."
The game has changed almost beyond recognition since Archer started off and he laments the absence of boot, bollock and bite that he grew up with.
"One of the young lads asked, what’s the difference between training back then and now," said Archer.
"Training back then, there was barely GPS. You’re going off how you feel, there was probably no data.
"There was a lot more fighting back in the day compared to now.
"Everything is to the whistle, it’s monitored in incredible detail.
"I suppose things like scraps and off the ball stuff that were probably a sign of what we thought was a good edge to us.
"It’s not tolerated now because you can’t go out on the pitch and start throwing a boot in or throwing a few digs because you’ll be red-carded."
Archer, who won the URC in 2023 and the Celtic League in 2011, has seen many up and downs in his time with the province and knows the team can’t afford to get bogged down in sentimentality this evening.
They have a job to do and, like Ulster, arrive on the back of two disappointing league losses and outside of the Champions Cup qualification and play-off places.
He said: "We had a tough few weeks there now with Bordeaux [in Champions Cup], Bulls and Cardiff and yeah, look it was good for us to get away, get a break from rugby.
"The coaches really put a kind of a good challenge to us of what's ahead over the next two weeks.
"Two good performances and then you're looking to knock-out rugby so it's a big block for us.
"We got the review of Cardiff done early and there was a lot of things that were in our control and had we done [them] properly or effectively we'd have won the match handy enough but unfortunately, it wasn't to be."
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