Quinlan: Leamy will bounce back

THERE was a time when Munster teams were dominated by players from the traditional rugby-playing areas of Cork and Limerick.

More recently, though, that trend has been gradually bucked starting with Kerry’s Mick Galwey who led the side to many of its greatest days in Europe. All the time, too, the influence of the other counties was growing with Tipperary especially prominent.

Alan Quinlan, from near Limerick Junction, was one of the first to make an impression and there has been a steady flow since led by Denis Leamy and maintained by Donnacha Ryan, Denis Fogarty and Tommy O’Donnell.