New line-out on the horizon: airborne action at the RSC last Friday night. | Photo: Noel Browne
It’d be begrudgery of the highest order to deny that last Friday’s British & Irish Cup match between Munster ‘A’ and Nottingham at the RSC was anything other than a huge success. The attendance and atmosphere, followed by both camps’ compliments about the facilities, should greatly enhance the prospects of senior provincial or underage international rugby being played in Waterford in the not-too-distant future.
Still, some will sneer that the 4,000-or-so spectators who turned up to see a game between two second/third-string sides are the epitome of the ‘nouveau riche’ rugby brigade who’ve boarded the Munster bandwagon with such gusto over the past decade. But the reality is that there’s an underbelly of rugby support in this region that, through little fault of its own, has been marginalised.
Next week: Waterford rugby and the meaning of Munster – the real deal or a convenient cause célèbre?
