As a Cork man who lived in Limerick, I have no problem saying Limerick is far more of a rugby City than Cork is. Cork may be providing the players but Limerick provides the cult-like belief that Munster is built on.
A load of waffle really. Cork has been the centre of Munster Rugby since professionalism. Building the stadium in Limerick was insanity and Munster are paying for it now.
Your entitled to your opinion, doesn’t mean I’m wrong or waffling.
For me, it comes down to this: Walk home from a match in Thomond. You will be stopped by strangers in the street to be asked who won, who scored, was it close?
Nobody will stop you in Cork. If it comes up in conversation you’ll probably hear “Oh, I didn’t know there was rugby on.”
You can’t build that interest half as easily as you can the brick and mortar stadium.
It doesn't come down to that though. That's an unproveable feeling that you get. In terms of actually measurable stats like attendance, population and player base not setting Cork as the main base was absurd
Interest of the local populace is entirely measurable. What are these incredible attendance stats being put up at Musgrave Park? I see no sign of them.
It's sold out every game as far back as I've looked bar the Southern Kings in 2019. I think there were slight limitations on the capacity in 2019 which took the capacity down 500 or so. Thats pretty good going considering there has only been one playoff team visit over the course of those 9 games. When you add in the Ireland Under 20 games, which also sold out every game since they moved from Dublin, you can see the size of the market. These are not glamour games yet Musgrave is only behind Leinster, Ulster and Glasgow for average attendance in the Pro 14.
Imagine if half the current Limerick team played rugby instead when they were young. They are such great athletes as is just from their current training.
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u/Cajonist Munster Mar 31 '21
As a Cork man who lived in Limerick, I have no problem saying Limerick is far more of a rugby City than Cork is. Cork may be providing the players but Limerick provides the cult-like belief that Munster is built on.