Horan: fans are being screwed

MUNSTER’S Marcus Horan yesterday blasted tour operators, hoteliers and those who ‘‘screw our supporters left, right, and centre’’.

As Munster prepare for Sunday’s Heineken Cup semi-final with Biarritz in San Sebastian, Horan expressed annoyance at the exorbitant prices which fans are forced to pay in the current economic climate.

The Irish international said: “I know the type of money people have to pay. My own parents and parents-in-law are travelling down to San Sebastian; it isn’t cheap to get there by any means.

“People tend to screw our supporters left, right, and centre with flights and hotels. They do get a raw deal.”

And he stressed that the efforts of those supporters aren’t taken for granted by the players.

“The hard thing about it is when we see people forking out money like that – probably a lot of people forking out money that they probably don’t even have – when we (players) see that happen it is a huge driving force for us and it is not lost on any of us. Everyone realises the huge sacrifices these people are making”

Despite Irelands’s recessionary woes, an estimated 7,000 strong Munster crowd will be in the Estadio Anoeta on Sunday and Horan agreed that: “It has always been a massive boost for us to know we have such huge support away from home. We have always been very close, we have travelled together and more or less socialise together.

“We’re in a small province and we (players and supporters) tend to meet a lot; it’s just a very special relationship of which we’re all proud.”

Meanwhile Munster’s crucial Magners League clash away to Cardiff Blues has been fixed for Sunday, May 9. See digest for fixtures.