Irish Examiner view: High water mark premierships

 Munster’s RG Snyman, Craig Casey, and Jean Kleyn, celebrating with the URC Trophy. Picture: James Crombie/INPHO

The outburst of joy over Munster’s thunderous trophy-winning victory in Cape Town against the highly dangerous Stormers is hugely deserved, coming as it does off the back of an air travel schedule that would give Greta Thunberg sleepless nights.

After a wait of 12 years for a cup, the win for Graham Rowntree’s side has replenished confidence following the disappointments of Leinster’s performance against La Rochelle, and ensures that Irish rugby ends the season, ahead of the World Cup, on an upbeat. 

It is the first time that a northern hemisphere side has travelled to the southern hemisphere to down redoubtable champions and lift the spoils.

The victory marks a remarkable period for blue riband leagues in Ireland and Britain,with an increasing sense that some things may never be the same again. 

In the RFU Premiership time looks to be running out for London Irish who will be suspended if the club fails to meet tomorrow’s deadline for a takeover deal. No substantive information has been forthcoming about the funds from a US consortium said to be interested in taking over from tycoon Mick Crossan.

If London Irish follow Worcester Warriors and Wasps in going to the wall, it will usher in the prospect of a ten-team league just two years after the sport’s governing body voted for an expansion to 14. That vision has proved unsustainable. 

Whether the reduction changes the fortunes of the game, or represents more wishful thinking, will depend on the appetite of broadcasters to spread their money across a reduced number of games.

In the seemingly financially unassailable football Premier League, whose season ended yesterday, all is not as rosy as it initially appears. Manchester City, who will be appearing in the showpiece Champions League Final, have just won their fifth title out of the past six years, and quite convincingly despite the best endeavours of Arsenal.

People don’t like a procession. And neither do the TV companies who fund the sport. They will be hoping that the EPL doesn’t go the same way as the Bundesliga, La Liga, and Ligue 1, where championships have become almost wholly predictable and monopolistic.