On the 30th anniversary of the greatest upset in rugby history – Munster's 12-0 victory over New Zealand in 1978 - the spectres of that famous game almost inspired another legendary result.

The ghosts were present at the ground. For the first time in 30 years, all the members of Munster’s celebrated team were there, including Christy Cantillon and Tony Ward, the points scorers on that most famous day. It added to the palpable feel as they lunched with the current members of the Red Army, before presenting the team with their match-day jerseys.

The excitement continued to build at the Thomond Stadium – now a glistening new colosseum. Unrecognisable from the old ground which the Red Army called home, but more exhilarating as the crowds surged before extravagant celebrations as the build-up to kick-off continued.

This was a midweek All Blacks team – with only Joe Rokocoko retained from the starting XV of the Test match against Ireland. Four debutants were in the match 22 as all front-line All Blacks were rested with the exception of debutant captain Piri Weepu and the heavy artillery on the bench in the form of Brad Thorn and Mils Muliaina.

They were watched from the stands by 1978 All Blacks Graham Mourie, Gary Knight, Mark Donaldson and Bryan Wiliams – the men who completed the first Grand Slam for the All Blacks and won 17 of their matches on tour, losing just the one - to the Munster men.

Likewise for Munster, they were missing 10 front-line players who were on duty for the Irish national side – missing Ronan O’Gara, Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan and David Wallace. Still, on the evidence of Ireland's 22-3 defeat to the All Blacks some days earlier, this was not in particularly a bad omen. They were not released as Ireland must win this weekend against Argentina or lose their top eight seeding for the 2011 World Cup.

A poignant moment began the game as a minute's silence was observed for the shocking death of Garryowen prop Shane Geoghegan. 

The teams then lined up against each other on half way, as the All Blacks prepared to perform the pre-match haka, but the Munster men lined up in a semi circle, as Rua Tipoki – a former New Zealand Maori captain – stepped forward with fellow ex-pats Lfemi Mafi, Doug Howlett and Jeremy Manning and performed an adapted haka against the men in black.

Superlative magnificence – if such adjectives can describe the emotion!

Equally superb was the response of Ka Mate led by captain Weepu. You could have heard a pin drop during the haka retort, with the 26,000 strong crowds silent and respectful of the mighty foes that had come back three decades on.

The inexperienced All Blacks were unprepared for the unbridled ferocity of the opening minutes as Munster's Dogs of War tore into the men in black in a manner unseen by their fellow British Test teams so far this tour, and were rewarded after eight minutes as fly-half Paul Warwick kicked a long-range penalty.

The All Blacks looked punch drunk and replied a minute later with a penalty to Stephen Donald, before another penalty goal and a sublime drop goal to Warwick made the score 9-3 to Munster after just 21 minutes.

The young New Zealanders were looking to play expansive flamboyant rugby, but Munster have not conquered Europe by tossing the ball around – though by no means are they monotonous to watch. The All Blacks wanted to open the game up, but Munster was far too cold to allow that to happen.

Munster were temporarily reduced to 14 men because of an injury to Denis Leamy, and the All Blacks hit back with a Donald try under the posts, but a series of scrums on the All Black line ended with Peter Stringer working Barry Murphy to the right side for try and allowed Munster to go in at half-time with a 16-10 lead.

A Donald penalty goal brought the scores to 16-13, but the second-ranked All Blacks No.10 missed kickable penalties that could have put the game safe. Graham Henry then emptied the All Blacks bench, with Muliaina, Thorn and Richard Kahui bought on.

With only minutes on the clock, it looked as if Munster would indeed repeat history as they were holding on against an attacking wave – before Muliaina linked with Rokocoko to score a try, ironically against their former All Black teammate Howlett. 

Munster, at this point, had played themselves to a standstill – but while history was not repeated, the match itself will again go down into the annals of Munster and All Black folklore.