Munster key to success no longer a class act

MUNSTER’S recent rugby success is based on casting off its “snooty, middle-class” image, says an academic whose research suggests the province’s “identity” is an invention of the professional rugby era.

Liam O’Callaghan of Bruff, a PhD student at Leeds Metropolitan university, says: “Taking the Munster team itself, an entire historical profile has been built up around them that they’ve always been competitive, with a great record against competitive teams, which they have.

“But did they ever capture the public imagination apart from 1978? I’m not altogether sure. It was telling in the build-up to Munster-Leinster last year that while the media usually cites previous encounters between teams, there was nothing to call on in this instance.