Leamy looks to build on success

European Cup: It hasn't taken long for Munster to feel some of the effects of being European champions. The joint launch of this season's tournament was held yesterday in Cork and Paris, and while the Heineken European Cup holders wouldn't generally shout "yippee" at the onset of media day, five of last May's Cardiff heroes along with some of the Brains Trust dutifully turned up at the sponsor's brewery for the photoshoot and interviews. It goes with their new territory.

There remains the minor detail of a rendezvous with Leinster at Lansdowne Road in the Magners League this Friday, and a home tie against Edinburgh the following weekend, but then the champions are obliged to hit the ground running away to two-time winners Leicester on Saturday fortnight.

"It's going to be very difficult again," admitted Denis Leamy. "Now it's a target for everyone in their season to beat Munster and obviously going over to Leicester first up is going to be very difficult. Welford Road is one of the great venues of European rugby. They're going to be so up for it it's going to be unreal. If we don't get ourselves mentally and physically right we're in for a horrible night."

The mindset has also changed for the holders. No more crusades, no more righting the many perceived wrongs of previous years, no more holy grails.

"Deccie (Kidney) has likened it to golf terms in that a bit like Colin Montgomerie we were always there or thereabouts, but had never won a major, but now we have a major we have to become more like Tiger Woods, and look to win them every year. And I think that's the attitude we've got to take."

While he admitted that the presence of Gloucester and Bourgoin (who are considering moving their home tie against Munster to Geneva) makes this season a tougher pool, warming to this theme, Leamy added: "I don't think the pressure is off. It would be terrible to go out and not perform to our ability. That would be no good to anyone. I don't think you can be truly considered a great team unless you've won it twice or three teams, like the Leicesters and Toulouses have done."

One new development this season sees an increase in the number of registered players from 36 to 38, which the ERC chief executive Derek McGrath sees as further evidence of the growth of the game in Europe. "We've increased the size and we've also now allowed a club to bring in a player."

The reasons for permitting a "wild card" addition are two-fold, namely in the case of injury, or secondly, were one of the competing sides to sign a star player.

From this season onwards, the ERC board have also made a ruling regarding abandoned matches.

"We had an abandoned match last year so from next year if a game is abandoned after 60 minutes the result will stand," declared McGrath. "That's not ideal for everybody but we recognise the lack of weekends to fit matches in, and the pressures of the tournament means we had to make a decision."

Similarly, the ERC have increased the sanctions against teams in the event of matches being postponed "if a team is found not to have made the best endeavours to prepare a pitch".

Fixed fines have also been brought in to penalise teams if they're found guilty of excessive changes to the team announced 24 hours before kick-off, or if teams turn out in strips not ordained in advance. This season's final will be at Twickenham, with its projected increase in capacity to 82,000, of which 16,000 tickets have already been sold.

Increased television coverage is another indication of the tournament's growth, with France Television - who have signed a four-year deal with ERC - showing two live matches every weekend. While terrestrial viewers in Ireland will be disappointed that Sky have exclusive live rights to games here, all 18 pool games involving Munster, Leinster and Ulster will be shown live by Sky Sports, with RTÉ also showing delayed coverage of the games involving Munster and Leinster as well as increased highlights packages.

Last season's aggregate attendance of 964,653 for the 79 matches was a tournament record, and this season Munster are on course to become only the third club (after Leicester and Toulouse) to attract more than 400,000 fans to their home matches. The province has attracted 374,091 to their 34 home games thus far. Had they a bigger stadium, that figure would have gone through the roof.