Limerick World Club 7s- 21st & 22nd August

phog

I know we have a 7s thread but as this is local and feature teams from the 4 provinces I thought a separate thread might be useful for up to date info.

The Pools are
Pool 1
Leinster
Daveta Fiji
Stade Francais
New York

Pool 2
Munster
Wellington
Canadian Maples
San Francisco

Pool 3
Connacht
Buenos Aires
Golden Lions
Ulster

Munster's fixtures for the 21st were announced yesterday on MR

12.09pm Canadian Maples v Munster
14.44pm Moscow Saracens v Munster
17.02pm San Francisco v Munster

Anyone with tickets for the Friday games can remain on to see Connacht host Munster in their pre-season friendly. I think, anyone with tickets for the friendly can arrive early and watch the 7s rugby.

The Lost Sheep

Does it need a separate thread? No games on tv. People will only really be giving updates from twitter. Etc

.ak

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Does it need a separate thread? No games on tv. People will only really be giving updates from twitter. Etc

I've no issue with a separate thread. It's a one off event and people may want to discuss it separately without blogging up a superthread.

.ak

I wasn't even aware the other provinces had teams in this....

The Lost Sheep

.ak wrote: »

I've no issue with a separate thread. It's a one off event and people may want to discuss it separately without blogging up a superthread.

Fair enough. Didn't think it even warranted a thread with lack of interest

.ak wrote: »

I wasn't even aware the other provinces had teams in this....

They were invited to help boost ticket sales. Same reason Munster Connacht friendly which was originally due to be played in the Sportsground was switched. All to try get more of a crowd in the gates

.ak

I wonder what sort of teams they'll put out. Presumably all the lads playing the international games?

The Lost Sheep

.ak wrote: »

I wonder what sort of teams they'll put out. Presumably all the lads playing the international games?

Below is the Munster squad that competed in last years event

Cian Bohane, Shane Buckley, Stephen Fitzgerald, Jamie Glynn, Ned Hodson, Ryan Murphy, Luke O'Dea, Ronan O'Mahony, Tomás Quinlan, Rory Scannell, Darren Sweetnam, Gerhard van den Heever

There was 5 guys who were on senior contracts at the time, 5 who were on academy contracts and 2 who were in sub academy. This year will be similar
Leinster play Ulster in Ravenhill that weekend so 25 from those squads...

Rightwing

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Fair enough. Didn't think it even warranted a thread with lack of interest

They were invited to help boost ticket sales. Same reason Munster Connacht friendly which was originally due to be played in the Sportsground was switched. All to try get more of a crowd in the gates

There was a very poor turn out last year, but it did clash with the Limk/Clare semi in croker. Hopefully punters will go this time.

phog

Rightwing wrote: »

There was a very poor turn out last year, but it did clash with the Limk/Clare semi in croker. Hopefully punters will go this time.

This year they're going for a Friday and Saturday, can't see too many taking a day off work for it.

But it would be nice to see an increase in the attendance from last year.

phog

Canada have named their squad for the weekend.

Canada’s Roster for the Limerick Sevens:
 
Phil Berna – (UBC Thunderbirds) Vancouver, BC
Luke Bradley – (UVIC Vikes/Port Alberni Black Sheep) Port Alberni, BC
Andrew Coe – (UBC Thunderbirds/Markham Irish) Markham, ON
Admir Cejvanovic - (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Justin Douglas - (Abbotsford RFC) Abbotsford, BC
Sean Duke - (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
Mike Fuailefau - (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
Lucas Hammond - (Toronto Nomads/Ontario Blues) Toronto, ON
Pat Kay - (UVIC Vikes/BC Bears) Duncan, BC
Matt Mullins – (Queen’s University/Ontario Blues) Belleville, ON
Mike Scholz - (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
Sean White - (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC

Head Coach: Liam Middleton
Assistant Coach: Lee Douglas
Manager: Todd Silverthorn
Physio: Katie Wnuk

phog

Two for one tickets available for Friday

phog

From Facebook - Samurai Squad

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: We're excited to see England 7s star John Brake in action when he captains the Samurai 7s in Limerick this weekend.
The 27-year-old is one of many internationals who will be competing for Samurai, who are one of the world's best invitational sevens teams.
He is joined in the squad by his England 7s team mates Ethan Waddleton and Harry Glover.
Other top sevens internationals in the squad include Portugal's Pedro Leal and Aderito Assancao, Scotland's Michael Fedo and Italy's Apisai Tavutunawailala.
Come and watch the Samurai stars in action for what will be a brilliant weekend of rugby sevens at Thomond Park on August 21 and 22! ‪#‎limerick7s
‬
Samurai 7s squad: John Brake, Ethan Waddleton, Mathieu Halbwachs, Michael Fedo, Aderito Assancao, Pierre Peres, Richard Addison, Pedro Leal, Harry Glover, Apisai Tavutunawailala, Arun Wyn-Evans, Youness Hou, James Golledge.

phog

The schedule for Friday- via MRSC Facebook

Day 1 Pool Stages
Match Time Pool Teams
1 11:00hrs A (A1) New York V (A2) Stade Francais
2 11:23hrs A (A3) Leinster V (A4) Daveta
3 11:46hrs B (B1) San Francisco V (B2) Samurai
4 12:09hrs B (B3) Canadian Maples V (B4) Munster
5 12:32hrs C (C1) Buenos Aires V (C2) Golden Lions
6 12:55hrs C (C3) Connacht V (C4) Ulster

On Pitch Entertainment 13:18hrs - 13:35hrs

7 13:35hrs A (A1) New York V (A3) Leinster
8 13:58hrs A (A2) Stade Francais V (A4) Daveta
9 14:21hrs B (B1) San Francisco V (B3) Canadian Maples
10 14:44hrs B (B2) Samurai V (B4) Munster
11 15:07hrs C (C1) Buenos Aires V (C3) Connacht
12 15:30hrs C (C2) Golden Lions V (C4) Ulster

On Pitch Entertainment 15:53hrs – 16:16hrs

13 16:16hrs A (A1) New York V (A4) Daveta
14 16:39hrs A (A2) Stade Francais V (A3) Leinster
15 17:02hrs B (B1) San Francisco V (B4) Munster
16 17:25hrs B (B2) Samurai V (B3) Canadian Maples
17 17:48hrs C (C1) Buenos Aires V (C4) Ulster
18 18:11hrs C (C2) Golden Lions V (C3) Connacht

On Pitch Entertainment 18:34hrs – 19:00hrs
Warm up for Pre Season Friendly 19:00hrs
Full XV 19:45hrs Connacht v Munster Pre Season Friendly

phog

Munster Squad for the tournament

Munster 7s Head Coach Colm McMahon has named his twelve man Munster 7s squad for the Limerick World Club 7s tournament at Thomond Park Stadium this coming Friday and Saturday, kicking off at 11 am each day.
McMahon features a mix of academy, sub-academy and club talent in a side that will be captained by Alex Wootton.

Wootton is one of four Ireland Men's 7s representatives in McMahon's squad alongside Young Munster's Diarmaid McCarthy, Lansdowne's Cian Aherne and Clanwilliam's Alan Bennie.

From the academy ranks, recent Ireland U20s representative Tomás Quinlan again features for Munster at the Limerick World Club 7s and this year is joined by his colleagues Alex Wootton, Ryan Foley, Steven McMahon, Jack Cullen, Frank Bradshaw Ryan (sub-academy) and Olly Lyons (Exiles). Lyons has been training with the academy for pre-season.

Also on the international front, following his recent move to Ireland, Malaysian 7s player Murray Linn is included while Cork Constitution's Niall Kenneally completes the twelve man squad.

Munster 7s Squad: Cian Aherne, Alan Bennie, Frank Bradshaw Ryan, Jack Cullen, Ryan Foley, Niall Kenneally, Murray Linn, Olly Lyons, Diarmaid McCarthy, Steven McMahon, Tomás Quinlan, Alex Wootton

Zzippy

After switching the Connacht-Munster game to the Debt Star for this weekend to bump up attendances, and screwing over Connacht ST holders in the process, I hope they get sweet f*ck all paying in to see it.

phog

Zzippy wrote: »

After switching the Connacht-Munster game to the Debt Star for this weekend to bump up attendances, and screwing over Connacht ST holders in the process, I hope they get sweet f*ck all paying in to see it.

That's the spirit.

.ak

That's awfully big of you Zzippy.

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

That's the spirit.

That match was marketed as included in Connacht's season ticket so Zzippy's angst is understandable.

The Lost Sheep

phog wrote: »

That's the spirit.

The game was announced as Connacht season tickets were being marketed heavily and was announced as part of ST deal so as Thomond said where Zzippy is coming from is totally understandable...

phog

thomond2006 wrote: »

That match was marketed as included in Connacht's season ticket so Zzippy's angst is understandable.

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

The game was announced as Connacht season tickets were being marketed heavily and was announced as part of ST deal so as Thomond said where Zzippy is coming from is totally understandable...

No great difficultly with Connacht fans feeling aggrieved but his post really was bitter.

thomond2006

Can I use the phrase Debt Star?

Zzippy

phog wrote: »

No great difficultly with Connacht fans feeling aggrieved but his post really was bitter.

I'm sorry for you if my bitterness offended you.

thomond2006 wrote: »

Can I use the phrase Debt Star?

It's copyrighted by Robbo I believe, I should have acknowledged his legal claim in my post. Apologies! I believe fair use is allowed provided it is not for profit, check with Robbo for terms and conditions...

phog

Zzippy wrote: »

I'm sorry for you if my bitterness offended you.

Why should I be offended by someone being bitter? However, if you had apologised for the tone of the post I'd accept that.

Curios George

Zzippy wrote: »

After switching the Connacht-Munster game to the Debt Star for this weekend to bump up attendances, and screwing over Connacht ST holders in the process, I hope they get sweet f*ck all paying in to see it.

Connacht screwed their own season ticket holders. They agreed to the change when approached by the sevens organisers. You should direct your angst at Connacht.

Zzippy

phog wrote: »

Why should I be offended by someone being bitter? However, if you had apologised for the tone of the post I'd accept that.

Why would you expect an apology for the tone of a post if you weren't offended by it?

As a ST holder I was treated shabbily by Connacht who agreed to move the game to Thomond to help out Munster by shoring up ticket sales for a 7s event that clearly can't pay for itself. If a Thomond game was switched to Galway for similar reasons I have no doubt there would be uproar among Munster fans.

I make no apology for what I said, it will be karma if the event backfires on them after the way fans were treated.

thomond2006

.ak wrote: »

I wasn't even aware the other provinces had teams in this....

Referencing the above for a reason, the other provinces made no effort to market this. Not a mention on Ulster and Leinster's site. They are competing at the weekend but nobody is aware. It's really strange. Munster can only do so much by themselves.

Maybe this is low budget so there was no finance to market and advertise but how much does an article or two on a website cost?

Maybe in subsequent years (if it remains) they can get together with Failte Ireland or someone and push this as a fun weekend in Limerick.

wp_rathead

Connacht 7's squad:
•Shane Layden (Captain)
•Peter Robb
•Danny Qualter
•Caolin Blade
•Ciaran Gaffney
•Ed O’Keeffe
•Fionn Carr
•James Connolly
•Conor Lowndes
•Ian Porter
•Cormac Brennan
•Shane O’Leary

Surprised to see Qualter in the squad, delighted to see Peter Robb.
Shame Niyi is injured

The Lost Sheep

wp_rathead wrote: »

Connacht 7's squad:
•Shane Layden (Captain)
•Peter Robb
•Danny Qualter
•Caolin Blade
•Ciaran Gaffney
•Ed O’Keeffe
•Fionn Carr
•James Connolly
•Conor Lowndes
•Ian Porter
•Cormac Brennan
•Shane O’Leary

Surprised to see Qualter in the squad, delighted to see Peter Robb.
Shame Niyi is injured

Not that surprising about Qualter. You always need some forwards involved so... Himself and Connolly are only forwards involved. Shame Niyi is injured. SOL will be good and Blade should be very interesting to see in 7s format

wp_rathead

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Not that surprising about Qualter. You always need some forwards involved so... Himself and Connolly are only forwards involved. Shame Niyi is injured. SOL will be good and Blade should be very interesting to see in 7s format

Yes but tends to be flankers, not second rows who used is what I meant by surprising. Thought maybe Maloney might be in the squad
Qualter isn't exactly the most pacy chap
Connolly seems suited though

phog

Zzippy wrote: »

Why would you expect an apology for the tone of a post if you weren't offended by it?

As a ST holder I was treated shabbily by Connacht who agreed to move the game to Thomond to help out Munster by shoring up ticket sales for a 7s event that clearly can't pay for itself. If a Thomond game was switched to Galway for similar reasons I have no doubt there would be uproar among Munster fans.

I make no apology for what I said, it will be karma if the event backfires on them after the way fans were treated.

I see you're continuing with the bitterness. Hope it helps you get over how shabbily your province dealt with you.

.ak

phog wrote: »

I see you're continuing with the bitterness. Hope it helps you get over how shabbily your province dealt with you.

... Enough of that thanks, let's just stick to discussing the event please.

phog

Profile of Munster 7s Squad via MR


Munster 7s Squad:

Captain Alex Wootton - Winger
Most recently a member of the Ireland Men's 7s squad and the 2015 Garryowen Senior Player of the Year, the winger is currently in his third year with the Munster Greencore academy having previously attended the Northampton Saints academy.

Originally from Stockport, he made his Munster 'A' debut in December 2013 against Plymouth Albion at the Regional Sports Centre in Waterford and the following summer went on to represent Ireland U20s at the 2014 Junior World Championship in New Zealand.

Cian Aherne - Winger
Following four years with Lansdowne in which he helped the Dublin club to AIL Division titles in 2013 and 2015, the Ireland Club international has returned to UL Bohs for the coming season. A current member of the Ireland Men's 7s squad, he previously represented Ireland at Sevens in the 2008 European Championships and has also won representative honours with Munster Schools, Munster U19s, Irish Universities and Leinster 'A'.

Aherne was a member of last season's '13th Combined Team' at the Limerick World Club 7s which provided cover for the twelve competing professional teams.

Alan Bennie - Scrum half
A scrum-half and native of Stirling in Scotland, like Aherne, Bennie is a member of the Ireland Men's 7s squad and also provided cover on last year's '13th Combined Team'. An U16 and U18 Stirling County Champion, at Irish club level he has played for Old Crescent, Shannon and Clanwilliam, and will line out for UL Bohs this season.

Frank Bradshaw Ryan - Lock
A current member of the Munster sub-academy, the Shannon second row made his British & Irish Cup debut for Munster 'A' against Doncaster Knights last January. While attending Ardscoil Rís he won representative honours with Munster U18 Schools before also featuring for Munster U19s and U20s, and Ireland U19s.

Jack Cullen - Scrum half
A former Exiles player, after lining out for an Ireland U18 Club side in 2013 - then coached by McMahon - the scrum half made the move from the Saracens youth programme to the Munster academy at the beginning of the 2013/14 season. In his time with the province, Cullen has played for Munster U19, U20 and Development sides, and also includes Ireland U18 Exiles, U19s and U20s amongst his representative honours, featuring in the 2015 World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy.

This weekend will not be Cullen's first 7s outing, having been included in the Irish U19 7s squad for the FIRA/AER Under-19 European Championship in Lisbon last year.

Ryan Foley - Scrum half
Moving into his second year of the Munster academy, Foley spent most of last season rehabbing a knee injury sustained during club action with Cork Constitution. A former CBC Schools player and member of the Con team that won the 2014 Bateman Cup, he has represented the province at U20, 'A' and senior level, and has won international honours at U19 and U20 where he made his debut against France in the 2014 Junior World Championship.

Just last week he came on as a replacement against Grenoble in the opening game of the Kearys Renault Series in Thomond Park.

Niall Kenneally - Centre
A former member of the Munster academy, the Sligo native has previously played for the province at senior and 'A' level. Impressing in the SEAT Series win over Gloucester at Thomond Park in 2013, the following November he entered the academy ranks and spent one year in the programme.

In making his British and Irish Cup debut in October 2013 against Stirling County the 24-year-old has made 7 B&I Cup appearances for Munster A.

Murray Linn - Centre
The centre hails from Sydney, Australia where he played Schools rugby before moving to Malaysia with his family. There too he excelled and competed against both Malaysian and International schools in various national and international competitions.

In progressing through the rugby ranks Linn played for Malaysian Super League team NS Wanderers on his way to winning selection for the Malaysia National Senior 7s team. He participated in a number of IRB Asian 7's tournaments in 2014 and achieved 10 full international caps. He is included in the Munster 7s side following a recent move to Ireland.

Ollie Lyons - Back row
A former Bedford School player, the back row represented the Exiles and also spent time with both the Northampton Saints and Wasps academies. Scoring a try on his debut for Munster 'A' - against the Ulster Ravens at Naas RFC in April - he has been training with the Munster academy for pre-season.

Diarmaid McCarthy - Winger
A star of the Schools game, he played for Castletroy College winning the Munster Schools Senior Cup with them in 2008. He also represented both Munster and Ireland at U18 Schools and U19 level. Taking a break from the game upon finishing school, his rugby involvement became intermittent until last season when he joined Young Munster. The winger was invited to train with the Munster senior squad and he finished out the season featuring for Munster 'A' against the Ulster Ravens and Connacht Eagles.

His backline exploits also placed him on the radar of the national Sevens programme and he too is a current member of the Ireland Men's 7s squad. Last Friday's clash with Grenoble at Thomond Park saw him make his first senior Munster appearance.

Steven McMahon - Winger
Another Munster Schools Senior Cup winner - with Rockwell in 2012 - the Waterford winger represented Munster U18 Schools, U19s and U20s before joining the academy system this season. On the international front he has worn the green jersey at Ireland U19 level and also joined Jack Cullen at last season's FIRA/AER U19 European Championship in Lisbon.

Tomás Quinlan - Out half
Another new recruit to the Munster academy, the young fly-half completes a trio of Munster representatives at the aforementioned FIRA tournament in Lisbon last year with Quinlan the only member of this year's squad to have represented Munster at last year's Limerick World Club 7s.

Capped at U19 and U20 for both Muster and Ireland, this summer saw the Cork Constitution play-maker feature in four of Ireland's five encounters of the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy. While there, he kicked a much-lauded last minute touchline penalty in clinching an opening round victory against Argentina.

The Lost Sheep

Ulster squad

David McGuigan (Ballynahinch)
Josh McIlroy (Rainey OB)
Thomas Donnan (Ballynahinch)
Marcus Mulgrew (Dungannon)
Chris Smith (Rainey OB)
Aaron Cairns (Ballynahinch)
Michael Lawton (Dungannon)
Robbie Reid (Queen’s University)
James Beattie (Ballymena)
David McIlwaine (Ballynahinch/Leeds University)
Patrick Colhoun (Cardiff University)
Mark Glover (Belfast Harlequins)

Munster 7s Squad: Cian Aherne, Alan Bennie, Frank Bradshaw Ryan, Jack Cullen, Ryan Foley, Niall Kenneally, Murray Linn, Olly Lyons, Diarmaid McCarthy, Steven McMahon, Tomás Quinlan, Alex Wootton

sioda

Great weather here in limerick today looking forward to the rugby tonight.

.ak

Any sign of the Leinster squad?

ArmchairQB

.ak wrote: »

Any sign of the Leinster squad?

Leinster are officially the worst Province in the country and possibly the worst in Pro 12 for info regarding underage, 20s, As and 7s. Getting to ridiculous situation. PR my ar*e!

The Lost Sheep

.ak wrote: »

Any sign of the Leinster squad?

Dave Mahedy, UL director of sport/recreation has a pic of leinster squad up on twitter. that's all you may find.

ArmchairQB wrote: »

Leinster are officially the worst Province in the country and possibly the worst in Pro 12 for info regarding underage, 20s, As and 7s. Getting to ridiculous situation. PR my ar*e!

Someone, whos involved w/ Leinster, said while back they don't provide coverage of interpro squads warm ups/summer training as its not wanted and they only want coverage of the actual games and the odd warm up game.
Better suited to Leinster thread but what do you want them to post?

thomond2006

Leinster and Ulster have not mentioned this on Twitter today. Very strange.

Robbo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Can I use the phrase Debt Star?

Zzippy wrote: »

It's copyrighted by Robbo I believe, I should have acknowledged his legal claim in my post. Apologies! I believe fair use is allowed provided it is not for profit, check with Robbo for terms and conditions...

Oh I'd love to see it gain further traction, use it freely and often. There seems to be a widescale denial about the sustainability of the Thomond financing.

On topic and I believe the first match Connacht are involved in kicks off in 5 mins.

Robbo

Connacht beat Ulster 36-10 in their first match. 3 tries from Fionn Carr, 2 from Ciaran Gaffney and 1 from Blade.

maoriincork

Well done Connacht. Go you boys in green.

wp_rathead

Really enjoying the day gotta say
The Fijian team a joy to watch

From Connacht POV:
Ciaran Gaffney is really really exciting player
Fionn Carr is relishing the Sevens game
Peter Robb is a TANK
Connolly has decent pace for a flanker
SO'L is a tidy little player

The other Provinces been rather dissapointing, although Munster did get a great result in dramatically drawing with Samurai at the death

thomond2006

What's the attendance like?

wp_rathead

thomond2006 wrote: »

What's the attendance like?

Meh.. Feck all at 11.00 when it started, was more players than supporters tbh

More and more have been trickling in though

The rugby on show deserves a bigger crowd, been alot of fun

thomond2006

wp_rathead wrote: »

Meh.. Feck all at 11.00 when it started, was more players than supporters tbh

More and more have been trickling in though

The rugby on show deserves a bigger crowd, been alot of fun

It sounds like there is definitely potential if there is more money and marketing put into it. It's always going to be overshadowed by GAA and to some extent rugby preseason but that is what it is.

Kick the other provinces in the backside and the IRFU for one to start pushing it. Offer a ticket and rail/bus/parking deal for those outside Limerick to encourage attendance. Maybe offer a discount for their season ticket holders....

wp_rathead

Yup, it brilliantly run aswell, on schedule, great rugby
Even the food has decent deals
Purely just needs bigger attendance to up the atmosphere
Whether people Don't know about it or simply don't care about Sevens is the question

Leinster vs Stade is enjoyable too- Leinster down 17-12
Edit: Woo Leinster with converted try at the death for 19-17 win

phog

Just home from Thomond Park.

Some decent rugby on display. I think Munster's skills/quality a bit behind our standard of last year.

We lost, drew and won our games.

I thought with the four provinces involved this year attendances would increase but its the opposite, though day 1 this year is a working day.

Looking forward to our preseason friendly later.

Braken

phog wrote: »

Just home from Thomond Park.

Some decent rugby on display. I think Munster's skills/quality a bit behind our standard of last year.

We lost, drew and won our games.

I thought with the four provinces involved this year attendances would increase but its the opposite, though day 1 this year is a working day.

Looking forward to our preseason friendly later.

Any team that would have Bradshaw Ryan as a 7s player couldn't be taken serious

phog

Braken wrote: »

Any team that would have Bradshaw Ryan as a 7s player couldn't be taken serious

Strangely enough he did OK for himself when he came on.

wp_rathead

Connacht beat Golden Lions 21-19
2 tries from Layden and 1 from Carr (his 5th today)
Peter Robb bulldozing and tackling the highlights for me today

Feckin got the 7's bug gotta say- had great day
Now just wait for the friendly

The Lost Sheep

Braken wrote: »

Any team that would have Bradshaw Ryan as a 7s player couldn't be taken serious

Bit harsh.

phog wrote: »

Just home from Thomond Park.

Some decent rugby on display. I think Munster's skills/quality a bit behind our standard of last year.

We lost, drew and won our games.

I thought with the four provinces involved this year attendances would increase but its the opposite, though day 1 this year is a working day.

Looking forward to our preseason friendly later.

Munster's skills overall are not as high as other sides IMO....
The promotion hasnt been good enough. Connacht gave every kid who attended one of their summer camps a free ticket to a home preseason game. Munster should have done similar but with this competition.
Munster should have went out to all the clubs and gave tickets out there at a discount but considering some clubs wouldnt open up their bar/kitchen/club house for coaches to make a cup of tea/coffee while working at a Munster Rugby summer camp what do you expect.....

thomond2006 wrote: »

It sounds like there is definitely potential if there is more money and marketing put into it. It's always going to be overshadowed by GAA and to some extent rugby preseason but that is what it is.

Kick the other provinces in the backside and the IRFU for one to start pushing it. Offer a ticket and rail/bus/parking deal for those outside Limerick to encourage attendance. Maybe offer a discount for their season ticket holders....

It will always be overshadowed by GAA considering its played during all ireland semis but its no excuse for not getting better sides.
IRFU should be pushing it more but going to all the clubs/minis starting back is the way to go. The summer camps idea as i mentioned above...