Grand Slam heroes voted top of the class

IRELAND rugby stars, Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery and Keith Earls got a huge welcome yesterday when they went back to their old Limerick college, St Munchin’s where they honed their rugby skills.

It was under the guidance of Pat Cross and John Broderick their skills were developed.

Marcus was on the Junior Cup winning team in 1993 and Keith was on the Senior Cup winning team of 2006.

Jerry was on the 1997 Senior Cup team that lost to CBC whose team included Donncha O’Callaghan.

Another past pupil, George Clancy refereed the France versus Scotland match in this year’s RBS Six Nations Championship.

St Munchin’s first international was Bill O’Connell in 1955 and St Munchin’s won its first Munster Senior Cup in 1968 with a team that included Larry Maloney who went onto play for Munster and Ireland.

Other notable rugby players who attended the school include Barry Murphy, Denis Hurley, Donnacha Ryan, Bill Mulcahy, Colm Tucker, John Fitzgerald, Paul Hogan, Philip Danaher, Anthony Foley, Keith Wood and retired referee Dave McHugh.