Donal Lenihan is as Cork rugby as they come and he is despairing.
Munster had to make a call when the game went professional – Cork or Limerick?
They eventually went for Limerick but everybody knew they would. Munster Rugby’s headquarters is now at University of Limerick and they play most of their games just up the road at Thomond Park. There are a few games at Irish Independent [formerly Musgrave] Park but none are coveted fixtures.
Lenihan, a legend of Munster and Irish rugby, agrees with the decision to settle on a training base but he fears the province is losing far too many fans from Cork and doing little to staunch the exodus. He told Second Captains:
“Is there an anti-Munster feeling in Cork? Yes.
“I get it all the time. There isn’t a week that goes by where someone doesn’t stop me in the street saying ‘I’ve stopped supporting Munster Rugby’.
“I say ‘Why?’ and they reply that the whole focus is Limerick. The stadium is Limerick, the centre is Limerick, they play in Limerick. There’s four PRO12 games a year in Cork – you get Zebre, Cardiff, Dragons and you may get a token [game like] Ospreys or Glasgow.
“It is a worry… the real worry is Munster played Edinburgh [in Limerick] at three o’clock in the afternoon and there were seven or eight thousand there [Note: Official attendance was listed at 12,826 by Munster]… In the old days, when I was driving back to Cork [after games], it would take you hours. Now? It’s not an issue.”
For a county that gave us the likes of Ronan O’Gara, Donncha O’Callaghan, Tomás O’Leary, Peter O’Mahony and Simon Zebo, such a drop in interest and attendances should be ringing alarm bells.
Club rugby is not faring much better.
Only Cork Con. are in the top division of the Ulster Bank League. Dolphin, Highfield, Sunday’s Well and UCC are all in the lower divisions.
The clubs rarely catch glimpse of their Munster players and have not been helped by emigration to Dublin and abroad. Attendances have plummeted.
There does not seem to be anything tangible in the way of a solution. Munster will still retain their stars and the country’s recovery from recession has been slow to seep outside of the nation’s capital.
Munster are not winning either.
If Donal Lenihan is worried, we all should be worried.
On the latest episode of the GAA Hour, Wooly chats to new Meath boss Andy McEntee about the flawed Dublin Championship and catches up with new Clare joint manager Donal Moloney. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
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