Munster made up one-half of a memorable rugby occasion in Dublin this week, as they travelled to Croke Park to face Leinster in front of a sold-out stadium.
Over 80,000 fans were in attendance at GAA HQ - the biggest crowd in URC history - for only the third club rugby game ever to take place at the historic ground.
By almost all accounts it was a roaring success, with a terrific atmosphere pervading around Croker and around Dublin's city streets in the hours after full-time.
One area in which it could have gone better for Munster was of course on the pitch. Three Leinster tries in the opening 15 minutes made the rest of the game virtually a non-contest. Even though Munster would outscore Leinster 12-5 over the remaining 65 minutes, it meant little when their bitter rivals had built up such a decisive lead.
However, Donal Lenihan has this week highlighted another area in which the occasion passed Munster by.
As the hosts for the game, Leinster claimed all of the gate receipts for the 80,000+ crowd - an enormous windfall for a domestic game, and one that Munster simply cannot compete with in Thomond Park.
It is for that reason that Munster legend Lenihan has called for his province to consider bringing the iconic fixture to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoímh in years to come.
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Donal Lenihan calls for Munster to host Leinster in Cork
12 October 2024; A general view inside the stadium before the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Munster at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Writing in his column in the Irish Examiner this week, Donal Lenihan said that Munster missing out on the massive €2 million windfall from Saturday's derby in Croke Park was a huge loss for the province.
Lenihan argued that the opportunity is there for the province to host their home interprovincial derby in Cork, where the 45,000 SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoímh could dramatically push up revenue compared to Thomond Park.
As long as it’s cost neutral to Munster, I firmly believe the Leinster game should be staged in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, at the very least, on rotation every two years.
Munster need to show a bit more imagination and should be more than capable of netting, at a very minimum, €250,000 from the exercise, in tandem with reaching out to a wider audience.
For years now Munster have operated on the principle that, “to the brave and the faithful nothing is impossible” — apart it seems from being able to host a competitive game at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The idea of hosting rugby in the home of Cork GAA is not a new one to the modern-day Munster setup.
Only this year, they hosted Super Rugby champions the Crusaders in the stadium, while they also played a 2022 friendly against a Springboks XV on the banks of the River Lee.
Though a competitive game is yet to take place in the stadium, the province did last season also nominate the stadium as their "home" venue should they reach the semi-finals of the European Rugby Champions Cup.
You could scarcely think of a better maiden competitive game in the ground than a Munster v Leinster derby.
