Christy O'Connor on why Munster Rugby must make better use of ...

On his Last Word show on TodayFM recently, Matt Cooper and rugby analyst Liam Toland got into a mini-spat about Munster’s struggles in comparison to Leinster.

Munster had just parted ways with their head coach Graham Rowntree but when Cooper outlined Munster’s wider problems around injuries and budgetary deficits, Toland wasn’t buying Cooper’s point on Leinster’s population advantage.

“Cork county has a population of what, half a million people and, with the greatest respect, are useless at sport in terms of the amount of people who live down there,” said Toland.

As a Cork-man, that was bound to get Cooper’s blood boiling but he allowed Toland to expand on his key points before daubing on the war-paint: “Hold on a second, I’m going to take up the cudgels for Cork against you, as a Limerick guy (Toland lives in Limerick).

“All the big games for Munster Rugby have been played in Thomond Park. It’s all been focused on Limerick. 

"So at least bring some of the URC games, like the game against Leinster, or these touring matches, to Cork to make Cork people more involved in Munster Rugby alongside the Limerick people.” 

As the debate heated up, Cooper interjected again to reinforce his anger.

“You said that Cork sport is useless - I’m not letting that go away, boi.” 

“I know we’re getting into a bar-room discussion here,” continued Toland, “but it’s true.  How can Cork not beat Clare in an All-Ireland hurling final when you look at the numbers? 

How can Cork Gaelic football not be performing? Or Cork soccer?” 

Of course it’s never that simple. Toland had veered off course but his main point focused on the disjointed nature of Munster Rugby, especially the failure of their regional centres to enhance the game around the province, and the lack of rugby-playing schools in Cork, all of which are deep-rooted issues which had nothing to do with Rowntree.

HUGE GAP

In any case, the gap between Munster and Leinster is widening with each passing season. 

The population and volume of rugby-playing schools in the eastern province compared to down south is a factor but Cooper’s point about bringing more games to Cork was well made.

In recent weeks in his Irish Examiner columns, Donal Lenihan has been banging that drum as loudly as he possibly can. 

After Leinster hammered Munster in the URC in Croke Park in mid-October, before a massive crowd of 80,468, Lenihan wrote of how Leinster’s marketing department had once again stolen a march on their Munster counterparts.

Despite the Aviva Stadium being available, Leinster didn’t hesitate opting for Croke Park to yield an additional €500,000 more than they would have made from staging the game at the Aviva.

“Meanwhile, under the watchful eye of CEO Ian Flanagan,” wrote Lenihan, “Munster continue to find a plethora of reasons not to exploit their own drawing potential when Leinster travel south.” 

Lenihan referred to a recent interview in the Examiner where Flanagan outlined the reasons why it doesn't make financial sense to host a competitive Munster game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, citing a number of obstacles from a commercial perspective.

Diageo hold exclusive rights to sell their products in Thomond Park while their competitors, Heineken Ireland, hold those rights for Páirc Uí Chaoimh. 

Yet Lenihan wrote how, with negotiation and the co-operation of both parties, that potential stumbling block was easily resolved for the South African XV and Crusaders games already played there.

The second potential obstacle centred on season- and 10-year-ticket holders. 

“We would actually be inconveniencing a lot of our core customers and our commercial partners,” said Flanagan.

“What about the multiple supporters in that category who travel from the southern counties to Limerick for Munster home games on a regular basis?” asked Lenihan in his column. 

I’m sure they’d get over the inconvenience of a match being staged in Cork.” 

Flanagan also cited the long-standing relationship in place with their commercial partners, Bank of Ireland, DHL and Adidas who regularly entertain clients at Thomond Park from corporate hospitality boxes.

“I can’t give them that at Páirc Uí Chaoimh,” he said. "There are no internal rooms for dining."

Again, Lenihan didn’t agree, arguing that Munster’s commercial partners would be adequately catered for in PUC – as commercial partners routinely are in the Premium level and in an adjacent facility across the corridor.

However, despite any of those concerns, the bottom line with getting more people in the doors – as Leinster have consistently shown – is that it also turns the match into the perfect marketing opportunity.

“For years now,” wrote Lenihan this week, “Munster have operated on the principle that, ‘to the brave and the faithful nothing is impossible’ — apart it seems from being able to host a competitive game at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.” 

Lenihan was writing about how Munster have again turned down the opportunity to maximise revenue and capitalise on multiple benefits from staging their annual St Stephen’s Day clash with Leinster in PUC.

BOOST

Conversely, that would also have significant benefits for Cork GAA, with the rental income and additional revenue they’d accrue from staging such fixtures.

In the meantime, PUC and Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan have continued to try and source business, as they should – and need to – with so much debt still to pay off. 

Next week, Cork’s Christmas ice-skating experience will move to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, where the Alpine Skate Trail will run under the north stand of the stadium. The experience will run until January 19.

Cork GAA’s financial affairs are not on Munster Rugby’s radar, but PUC has so much to offer, especially around hosting games, and promoting the brand further south in the province. Munster Rugby will operate as they see fit but Cooper and Lenihan are right. 

With the Munster-New Zealand XV match taking place in Thomond Park on Saturday, imagine the marketing opportunity, and the additional revenue Munster could have made with another 20,000 packed into the Páirc?