Fizz is taken out of Good Friday match

RUGBY:WITH LITTLE or no prospect of the Magners League game between Munster and Leinster being switched from Good Friday, Limerick publicans have met the Garda to begin exploring the possibility of an exemption to the licensing laws for the evening of April 2nd.

The average Magners League game generates between €1.2 million and €3.5 million to the local Limerick economy according to an economic anaylsis by BDO Simpson Xavier in 2009, while a Heineken Cup game is worth €10 million. But the experts believe a Munster v Leinster game is somewhere in between the two because it is always a 26,000-plus sell-out, and is conservatively estimated to be worth between €3.5 to €5 million to local publicans, hoteliers, restaurants and shops at a time when the city has been particularly hard hit by the downturn in the economy.

However, short of Celtic Rugby or Setanta bowing to public pressure, a Munster spokesperson has ruled out the prospect of the game being brought forward to Thursday, April 1st, or Saturday, April 3rd. “Because of this very scenario, on a Good Friday, this was pointed out to the Celtic League board before they decided on the date of the game. In the current economic climate we would be very aware of the fact that a Munster-Leinster game is a big ‘beano’ to the local businesses and therefore we would like to have maximised that in whatever way possible. That’s why we would have gone for the Saturday and requested that (in advance).”

Celtic Rugby have already agreed to television coverage of the game on Setanta, kick-off at 8.05pm. After agreeing the dates and kick-off times for rounds 15 and 16 with their broadcast partners BBC Wales, S4C and Setanta, the director of Celtic Rugby, David Jordan, was quoted as saying: “We are also mindful of giving our teams the best opportunity to progress in other tournaments, and as such consider the fixtures we have agreed as the best solution for all concerned.”

Indeed, with their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Clermont Auvergne the following Friday, Leinster will be happy to have a seven-day turnaround before that game. However, while it may suit Setanta and Leinster, it certainly won’t suit supporters or local businesses in Limerick.

Peter Clohessy, the former Munster and Irish prop who owns the Sin Bin in Limerick, commented yesterday: “It’s absolutely scandalous that the match has been fixed for Friday, for the pubs, the hotels, the restaurants and the shops. I don’t blame Leinster, I blame the Celtic League. Why not fix it for Thursday night or the Saturday? That would be the sensible thing to do.”

Gerry O’Dea, chairman of the Limerick City Vintners, and Dave Hickie, owner of Souths pub in Limerick and a former chairman of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, met the Garda Commissioner yesterday to explore the possibility of the match being deemed a special event.

If so, the vintners would submit an application for an exemption to the licensing laws, to be heard by the Limerick District Judge Tom O’Donnell. It is also believed that the gardaí, the Mayor and the local council would have no objection to this, given matches at Thomond Park have always been without trouble, but against that it would be setting a precedent.

Meanwhile, the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) have signed and posted a Celtic Rugby protocol to enter two home-based franchises in the Magners League next season. However, amid delaying tactics by the Scottish RFU, the Italians have also set a deadline of next Monday, after which they say they will break off talks with Celtic Rugby.

The FIR and the franchises (Treviso and Viadana) matched the €3 million requested by the Celtic Board to cover increased expenses for the existing teams. The IRFU and WRU have agreed to Italy entering next season, and the IRB strongly supports Italy’s entrance. To that end, the IRB chief executive, Mike Miller, was in Rome last Saturday to talk with the FIR president Giancarlo Dondi and SRU executives prior to Italy’s 16-12 win over Scotland.

However, the SRU board met on Thursday day and while supposedly agreeing in principle to the concept of two Italian teams entering from next season, are stipulating that they will not ratify the Italians’ entry until such time as a three- or four-person executive staff are appointed to run the Magners League.

They take the view that, for example, a managing director, logistics manager should be appointed, although, supposedly fearful of Italian rugby growing further at Scotland’s expense, this may be seen as a filibuster to deny the Italians entry into the league.

The IRFU have confirmed that the union’s national fitness director, Dr Liam Hennessy, has retired. Way ahead of his field in the whole area of sports fitness and conditioning, the visionary and popular Dr Hennessy revolutionised the conditioning of the elite Irish rugby players, introducing the concept of cryotherapy amongst other initiatives.

As the mastermind behind the IRFU’s careful man management of elite rugby players, Dr Hennessy was one of the key figures in the rejuvenation of Irish rugby.