Bourgoin benefactor set to leave

MUNSTER’S Heineken Cup opponents Bourgoin have been hit with the news that their benefactor wants to end his involvement with the club at the end of this season.

Club president Pierre Martinet, who has bankrolled the club for a decade — since the beginning of the professional era — wants to sell his shares, and told Bourgoin supporters: “I will put my hand in my pocket at the end of the season but it will be the last time, because I will not put my company [Martinet SA] at risk and I must preserve my personal inheritance.

“It would be ideal if a new shareholder would come forward. If that were the case, I’d be ready to give up over 50% of the shareholding and thus the presidency.”