Great Friday

There's a long standing old fashion pointless tradition is this country of closing down for good friday. Something I don't agree with. I never have. And I can promise I never will agree with it. I remember years ago trying to go on what you could call a "date" on Good Friday and not having a clue where to go-everywhere was closed after all. So after work (yes I had to work on Good Friday) I discovered not only are all pubs and clubs closed but our already useless bus service doesn't actually operate either. BACKWARDS I tell you. But now things are looking up....Munster have climbed aboard their horse to be our Knight in shining armour. Rushing in to save the Damsel in distress Munster and Limerick in particular fought to open the bars on Good Friday for the Match against Leinster. Judge Tom O Donnell ruled that pubs in Limerick city can now open on Good Friday from 6pm till 11.30 for health and safety reasons. With 26,000 people leaving the Park we're all sure the Gardaí would be a lot happier if they weren't all hanging around after the match...right? The Judge declared this a valid reason to open the pubs. I don't really care about the why's I'll admit I'm just glad that we're progressing on this the Church rules all notion we have always had. Judge O Donnell noted that Thomand Park's licence (a licence already secured) allows it to serve drinks (with alcohol hehe) from when it opens it's doors until the end of the game. With this in mind Judge Tom O Donnell said it was absurd that pubs could not open for business as Thomand Park does.

The move to open the pubs, 110 altogether, has created a hot debate within the Bishopless and ministerless City. But at least we can have a drink in Limerick. David Hickey of Souths Bar on O Connell ave welcomed the move in a vast contrast to the Franciscan Friars who reside in the Friary in Moyross, in the shadow of Thomand Park. Their answer to this debate? Boycott the match and hold a vigil outside the stadium. Helpful?

Madam, – The sanctity of Good Friday is not dependent on the laws of the State, but rather on the hearts of the faithful who, in the eyes of the church, should abstain from alcohol on this Holy Day, regardless of what is or is not allowed by the State. Subsequently, those who choose not to recognise the day, should be allowed to celebrate their team however they like, or merely enjoy a drink on a typical Friday as they normally would.

The influence or merging of religious customs with secular law impacts the rights of all citizens, regardless of their beliefs, and continues to cause sectarian violence and oppression in numerous countries, particularly in the Middle East. This comparison is overly dramatic in relation to the Republic of Ireland, but a move towards separation of church and State could be viewed as a modernisation of Irish law.

The problem with alcohol abuse and binge drinking in this country is a separate matter, which surely will not be impacted by a ban on public sale of alcohol for one day. Furthermore, can one not enjoy a rugby game without being inebriated? – Yours, etc,

MEGHAN COAKLEY,

Looks like I'm not the only one to agree here though. As this letter points out it should be a choice and I believe that Judge Tom O Donnell has made the right call here. Lets now hope the rest of this backward country can follow suite and we'll perhaps be as progressive as we claim to be.

Munster v Connacht-St Stephans Day

Gav and I were ment to go together to Limerick to see it but the ice has been awful so we opted for the safer idea of going to the pub to see it. That didn't quite go to plan either-too icey to leave here so I got it online instead. I have to say Munster was beyond brilliant. 35-3 is a great way to finish up. I dont think Gav thought so though. Ronan O Gara was back on form, each kick was spot on and brilliant. He went off and was replaced by Deasy with Warwick taking over kicking duty with a certain amount of flair. Munster leapt onto the scoreboard in the tenth minute and by half time Munster were 20 up to Connachts 3 points from Ian Keatly at the last minute of the first half. We saw Dowling, Varley, Warwick and De Villiers score fantastic tries while Connacht struggled to even stay on the pitch. O Gara did very well as stant in skipper and we in Munster were glad and proud to see him return to his glory. Gavin, I dare say, wasn't too happy with the result but we played exceptionally well and deserved this after a somewhat rough start to the season. This is a more than welcome change and a nice postive note for our Christmas wishes.

Merry Christmas Munster x

High hopes for Irish rugby season.

The Magners League is just around the corner and the Irish provinces have finished their signings for the coming year, which after the successes of last year holds a lot of promise for further improvement in Irish rugby, at provincial and national level.

Munster, after months of speculation and rumours, have completed their marquee signing of the talented Springbok centre Jean De Villiers. De Villiers, captain of the Stormers and Springbok player of the year in 2008, will be expected to replace Rua Tipoki in the centre. He will be battling for his place with Keith Earls and Liefimi Mafi, with the likely outcome being De Villiers and Mafi in the centre with Earls shunted to wing or full back. In terms of developing Earls as a centre this signing is not ideal but many believe his future lies at full back where he shone for the British and Irish Lions.

Toby Morland, a Kiwi scrumhalf, has been signed as cover for Tomas O'Leary and is showing himself to be in a similar style to O'Leary. He's a physical scrum half with good pace but a slow pass. Expect him to go the way of the South African back row Justin Melck who was signed last season as injury cover and moved on in January.

Munster have also signed Leinster full back Felix Jones who had an excellent showing at the Churchill Cup with Ireland A. Danny O'Riordan having been released from Connacht after a very promising start to his career stalled under the rotation policy of Michael Bradley has also signed. Both are solid under the high ball and have exceptional pace. Competition for the backs in Munster will be intense in all positions.

In the pack Munster have signed French prop Julien Brugnaut from Dax. The 27 year is just entering his prime in propping terms but stuggled in the scrums against Sale in the first pre season match for Munster. His signing stalls the development of Irish props such as Dave Ryan and shows why Ryan's older brother, Timmy, moved to Toulon to get more game time. Munster have also signed Damian Varley, the Garryowen hooker who had a successful season at Wasps, however his gametime will be limited with Flannery and Denis Fogarty ahead of him.

The back row remains an area of strength for Munster with high expcectation for UL Bohemians openside Tommy O'Donnell to make an impression this year after procuring a senior development contract. Nick Williams is also back to full fitness and was impressing in the match against Sale before a minor injury forced him off.

Munster have built on the strength in depth of last season and should again challenge for the Magners League and Heineken Cup. With the reintroduction of the maul as a legitimate attacking weapon and the increase in off loading evident from last season they'll be a threat to any team. The big worry is if John Hayes gets injured and Brugnaut fails to step up. The expectation though is for Munster to regain the Heineken Cup and the largest negative about Munster's work in the off season is the new all red kit.

Leinster have also signed very shrewdly strenghting their pack with Cork native Mike Ross who signed from Harlequins. Ross was part of a formidable scrum with the London team and provides an Irish option at tight head. However Tony Buckley put in a much better perfromance at tight head for Ireland A over the summer. Hopefully this was a result of fatigue on Ross's part after a grueling season.

Nathan Hines, the Scottish second row from Wagga Wagga, has also signed for Leinster. He will bring a hard edge to the pack as well as some underrated handling abilities. A second row of Leo Cullen and Hines may not win any modelling competitions but no one would bully a pack with them in it.

Another Munster native has signed with Leinster in Eoin Reddan. Reddan will be replacing Chris Whitaker and is hoping to regain the Irish number 9 jersey. He had a poor season at Wasps by his standards but not many Wasps enhanced their reputation last season. His sniping runs and box kicks will give the Leinster back line lots to work off and he could prove to be the catalyst for a backline that sturggled for consistency last season.

Leinster's biggest loss is Rocky Elsom, undoubtledly the best back row in the world. His bullocking runs, huge tackles and enormous work rate will be sorely missed. However this does present an oppurtunity for Sean O'Brien to gain a regular starting spot for Leinster. The young Carlow man is hugely promising and is strong with ball in hand on and on the floor. Expect an Irish cap for the youngster before the end of the year.

Other Leinster players who can expect their first Irish cap are Cian Healy and Johnny Sexton. The loosehead prop offers an offensive weapon in the scrums as well as the habit of scoring tries on the wing shared by his rival Marcus Horan. If Sexton carries his form and confidence into the new season we could see a new first choice out half for Ireland, it's a big if though.

Leinster have a lot of expectation on their shouders after last season's Heineke Cup success but expect them to be there or thereabouts again this season.

Ulster have a new Head Coach in former Irish skills coach Brian McLaughlin and have placed a lot of faith in new Operations Director David Humphreys to steer them back towards success of any kind after a few poor seasons.

Unfortunately for them the bad news began before a ball was kicked with their captain Rory Best being ruled out for the season. Andy Kyriacou, who some may remember from a brief spell at Munster, will be an able replacement but Best is part of the backbone of a young Ulster team.

The best Ulster can hope for is a mid table finish in the Magners League and some good performances in the pool stages of the Heineken Cup. They have a lot of promising young players, Ian Whitten, Darren Cave, David Pollock to name a few but Ulster should be planning for the future rather than the short term this year.

Michael Bradley continues coaching in Connacht so expect another year of mediocrity interspersed with one or two good wins and some foreign signings. It's hard to motivate yourself for Connacht when Bradley's losing record is never punished despite the fact that when a quality coach, Warren Gatland, was in charge Connacht made the most of what they had and became the first Irish team to win in France in a European competition and were generally expected to make the semi finals of the European Challenge Cup most years. However, the IRFU don't seem to want to replace Bradley at the moment.

I'll save any predictions for the national team until before the autumn interantionals but with Kidney in charge another good season should be on the cards.

Seconds, Anyone?

Is one allowed to support a second team?`

This weekend, I watched the Heineken Cup Final in the company of herself. An engaging game, it was good to see Leinster win and cap a truly remarkable year for Irish rugby. The other half had ‘butterflies’ coming near the end of the game but I can’t say that I did. Did I want Leinster to win? Sure. Success for Ireland is success for Ireland. Did I care whether Leinster won? Not really.

I’m a proud Galwegian who spends most of his time in Limerick, the home of Munster rugby and a place where one is expected to support the local team. As someone who’s spent the last six years in college there and thus with a number of other people who have migrated into Munster, I’ve been surprised by the way in which the Stags have been adopted by people from outside the province. “How can you not support Munster?” they ask, incredulously. Well, because I’m from Connacht.

To say that the life of a Connacht rugby supporter is depressing is at best a compliment. We can (and do) make excuses as to why, but Connacht’s Magners League record isn’t the best. Or even the second-worst. Yet we don’t choose the ones we love, or so the saying goes, so I will continue to support them vigorously until the Grim Reaper decides I’ve had enough.

But should I support a second team? Should anyone? While I like to see Irish football clubs and rugby teams etc. do well in international competition, I don’t know if I should support them. It’s a dilemma. Can one like a team that they sometimes compete against? Should I cheer when Dricco scores a try or when Rog kicks a penalty? Or, for that matter, when a soccer player for a team other than Manchester United scores a goal, just because I have some sympathies for his team?

Is it socially acceptable to like more than one team or is a die-hard sports fan a fan of one side per sport/league and no more? I’ve always been a bit sceptical of people who say that they like more than one team but, as Hellie’s butterflies fluttered more and more as the final whistle drew near, I wondered if I was missing out on something by being so close-minded. I still don’t know if I am.