Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

19-10-2021 01:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118042284#Comment_118042284

I received an IRFU email at lunch with a link to pay for them. I had only applied through the MRSC lottery for tickets so it's the only place it could have came from.

phog · 19-10-2021 01:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118042342#Comment_118042342

That's correct, MRSC had said we'd get an email from the IRFU because of the short turnaround.

Red Silurian · 19-10-2021 02:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118042391#Comment_118042391

Yes but these emails weren't due to be sent out until Thursday

greenkiwi1 · 19-10-2021 02:16PM

We also got the same email from The IRFU. Not the All Blacks but were lucky enough to get these tickets thru the Vodafone pre-sale.

Lost Ormond · 20-10-2021 10:56PM

MAR have had to put up big appeal for new people to take up the whistle.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=282079420585789&set=a.130453012415098

Need a lot to either become full or associate members. hopefully this appeal gets a few more people who will ref games now

Red Silurian · 21-10-2021 08:24AM

Anybody get IRFU emails with ticket details this morning?

21-10-2021 10:03AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051355#Comment_118051355

Kanturk's game vs Charleville last week in the Munster Junior League was off as there was no ref available.

https://twitter.com/kanturkrugby/status/1449059209291702274

I've been to a couple of MJL games so far this season and the majority of refs appear to be Limerick based which some Limerick based teams can see as a bias against them while their opponents see it as a bias for them.

There was a big drive again about 2 years ago and I don't think that it attracted many new players to the game. There was talk at the time that club's ticket allocations would be linked to the amount of referees linked to the club. The lower the amount of refs, the smaller your allocation would be.

Any of the courses they put on were either in Limerick or Cork and the same with their pre-season training. There's plenty of clubs around the province more than capable of hosting the referees course. MAR would be better off moving their meetings and training courses around the province rather than give the money to Pat McDonagh instead. MAR meetings are in Castletroy Park and the MAR course was to be held in Charleville Park in 2019.

Lost Ormond · 21-10-2021 12:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118052371#Comment_118052371

Where were the few games youve been to on? if in northern half of province then the refs would be far more likely to be Limerick based. The whole PPS that was talked about coming in to AIL was also to link clubs ability to progress to number of referees who are members.

Where would you be suggesting MAR move their meetings/training courses around to exactly? As majority of refs and for ease of access its better the courses and meetings are in Limerick/Cork just like Connacht primarily have theirs in Galway, Ulster Belfast etc

aloooof · 21-10-2021 12:27PM

Can anyone remember when the dates and times for 2nd half of season fixtures are normally set?

21-10-2021 01:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118052860#Comment_118052860

Ya, the games I've attended were in Clare, Limerick and Tipp so would have expected the majority of refs to be Limerick based. I just don't see too many refs not from Limerick. It's just annoying when you see a Limerick ref refereeing a match between a Limerick club and a Tipperary club, you have the Limerick club complaining that the ref is biased because they are affiliated to another Limerick club and you have the Tipperary club complain that the ref is biased because they're from Limerick. Its a no win situation for the ref/MAR and doesn't make it appealing for the ref to want to go out and ref these games.

I'm not suggesting moving them completely but even just move them around the province on a week by week basis. My closest town doesn't have any club but I would be within a 30 minute commute of Galbally, Mitchelstown, Clonmel, Carrick, Fethard, Cashel, Kilfeacle, Clanwilliam and Thurles rugby clubs. I'm not suggesting that every meeting be moved to these clubs but if I knew that I would be within a half hour from home maybe every second or third meeting, it might entice me to get involved. To get involved at present, it would mean a 1 hour commute each way for each meeting.

Lost Ormond · 21-10-2021 01:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118053166#Comment_118053166

It isnt really that annoying to see refs from Limerick ref a game between Limerick and tipp/clare/cork clubs. Theres a lot more to worry about. You cant do anything about it and i dont think it makes a difference to most refs in most situations.

You dont want to move ref meetings too much. Is it really an issue for the meetings to be held in one location? Like Connacht will hold most of theirs in Galway. Ulster society will have full meetings in Belfast and more regular meetings regionally. How many refs does this really affect. I have an hour or so commute to most meetings. It doesnt put me off and with covid and virtual meetings now the norm im sure the association would be able to assist anyone who may not be able to commit to attending each meeting.

21-10-2021 01:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118053314#Comment_118053314

I found it annoying as a neutral attending these games to be honest. Any decision the ref made was met with jeers from either side regarding their perceived bias. Very hard to enjoy a quality game when you have moans from each side's support everytime a whistle is blown. The ref is damned if they do and damned if they don't to be fair.

I'm not giving out about referees or the job MAR do, I commend them for what they do but I do feel they could do more to entice people from outside Limerick and Cork to get involved. I understand that Limerick and Cork are the two biggest population centres of the province but the example I gave involves 9 clubs in Tipp/North Cork/East Limerick. If the MAR could recruit a single ref from each of those clubs by simply making meetings easier for them to attend, I'm sure they would see it as worthwhile. I would love to get involved but the last thing I want to do after a days work is commute an hour each way to a meeting, not to mention the rising fuel costs.

Lost Ormond · 21-10-2021 01:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118053404#Comment_118053404

Selection of refs for specific games depends on level of refs as well. There already is refs from many of those clubs already but they may simply not be at level to ref the games you were at or were doing higher level games... East Limerick/North Cork isnt that difficult to get to the meetings.

If you were to move meetings then what about all the others who are travelling. you cant suit everyone. yes some will have to travel more but thats life. meetings are in venues that will suit the majority...

mun1 · 21-10-2021 08:45PM

No mention by Munster Rugby of the ructions in the MAR over the past few months which has led to a lot of members & referees giving up and not returning this season , particularly in the south of the province.

why would you move the north/south meetings out of their current settings ? That’s where most of the referees and clubs are located.

most MAR referees come from limerick/North Munster clubs and this has been the way for their last 20 years. When i started in limerick, you had 60+ active referees in North Munster alone. You were lucky to get an U13 match some weekends. I’d say we are down to 25-30 active referees at this stage.

with more and more games being scheduled each weekend and girls/womens rugby taking off , and the drop off in referee numbers over the last few years (off a cliff this season), the problem has been coming for a while now.

because we changed sponsor this season, we are asked to pay €60 for a new set of kit. That’s is not how you show that you value referees.

i would have proposed that

Encourage more women referees

pay referees a small fee for each match (it works for the FAI)

provide free kit for active referees.

incentivise clubs to provide more referees. (One AIL club in limerick provided 6 active referees at one stage , while another only provided 1, yet that both had the same number of matches each weekend).

Lost Ormond · 21-10-2021 09:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118055307#Comment_118055307

Munster had an article on their website. Is that not mention of it? There's well more than 25-30 active refs if you look at fixtures and number of refs getting games weekly and then those who cant do every week.

Refs should get some gear simply for paying membership but extras should have a fee.

All the provinces have tried get more women refereeing. How would you propose the association encourage more women to become refs?

FAI wouldnt get a lot of refs if they didnt pay them with levels of abuse etc. That is an extra level of pull needed to get people to volunteer their time to ref games. Where would you get that money from anyway?

How do you incentivise clubs to provide more refs. And just getting people to do the ref courses isnt enough as you want and need refs who will stay involved and do 25-30+ games a season....

phog · 22-10-2021 08:06AM

MRSC Pack arrived this morning - fairly underwhelming to be honest.

22-10-2021 08:10AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118056342#Comment_118056342

Which of the scarf/hat/gloves was included this year?

phog · 22-10-2021 08:17AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118056352#Comment_118056352

None

I was hoping for a MRSC face mask but that wasn't included either.

CONSI · 22-10-2021 08:27AM

Yeah was thinking a face mask would have been a no brainer, I wonder was this stuff ordered from previous year and just in storage

22-10-2021 08:29AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118056391#Comment_118056391

There must be very little in it so.

I have a spare one of the Munster/Laya Healthcare masks they were giving out at the Munster vs Sharks game still in its packaging. If you want it, drop me a PM and I can stick it in the post

greenkiwi1 · 22-10-2021 08:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118056429#Comment_118056429

That’s the one game we could not get too early (usually there when turnstiles open to get our spot on the terraces) so missed out on the face masks. My friend even rang Laya to see if any spares and it was just a one off.

Cookiemunster · 22-10-2021 08:48AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118056352#Comment_118056352

Which of? We haven't received a scarf/hat/gloves in years. Horrible tat is all we've been getting since the Lifestyle deal was done. Can't be taking away from their sales.

22-10-2021 08:52AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118056500#Comment_118056500

You're right actually. I think we last received gloves in 2018/2019 pack (the ones that were meant to work with a smartphone but didn't), it was socks in 2019/2020 pack and that snood thing in the 2020/2021 pack.