Star trek for next generation

IT WAS open day for the Munster rugby fans in Musgrave Park yesterday, and by 3.30pm it seemed like every kid in Cork had packed into the ground.

All down the stand side, fully across the city-end terrace, partway up the uncovered stand area, they stood at least four deep, ten deep in places. In their eager outstretched hands, autograph sheets prepared and distributed by the organisers, blank space beside each neatly-printed player’s name.

Inside the low wall perimeter, the players, still in training gear, muddied from the recent session, are posted at intervals, moving slowly along the line, signing, talking, smiling, posing for the occasional photo. “There must be a thousand kids here,” mused a smiling Munster coach Alan Gaffney. “Fantastic to see; it was a very good idea, the players are very much supportive of it all, particularly with the young kids coming out. It’s a buzz for the boys [players] too.”