McGrath: AIL still means an awful lot

There was a time not so very long ago when an AIL clash between Shannon and Young Munster under the Thomond Park lights on a Friday night would have attracted a crowd of 10,000.

Now host club Shannon would be happy if they got a quarter of that figure.

Garryowen would be content if a thousand turned up for their clash with Dolphin at Dooradoyle as would Old Belvedere when they host Lansdowne at Anglesea Road.

While staging as many matches as possible on Friday nights has a great deal of merit, the attendances remain a long way off what they used to be in the halcyon days of the AIL back in the 1990s. That was an era when the clash of St Mary’s and Young Munster at the end of the ’94 campaign had to be switched to Lansdowne Road to accommodate a crowd close to 20,000.

Current Young Munster captain and tight-head prop Hugh McGrath watched that game as a 12-year-old.

“I don’t suppose I’ll ever see a day like that again,” he accepts. “However, there are still a lot of diehard Young Munster supporters who go to matches week-in, week-out and still really enjoy it and love it.

“The attendances may not be as big these days but it still means a lot to a lot of people. Games like this on a Friday night will attract a larger element that you might not see on a Saturday and help to put the spotlight on the club game and hopefully bring in newpeople.”

McGrath knows there is talent in the AIL and points to Young Munster front-row colleague Alan Cotter, currently on loan to London Irish, who performed outstandingly well in a Premiership match last weekend.

“Alan has been knocking around the Munster Academy for the past few years and not seen a whole lot of A or full first-team games but he certainly didn’t look out of place [with the Exiles],” said Hugh.

“I think Alan has a lot to offer and is one for the future and as regards the AIL, I feel there are still a few guys who could easily be playing professionally under other set-ups. There are still rewards for young guys to come through and show what they could do with professional teams.”

As for tonight’s game, McGrath said: “The hard work has been done and now it’s a case of getting the mindset right because it’s a big occasion for a lot of the younger guys who haven’t been in this situation and making sure the older fellas and leaders bring them along.”

Shannon are in transition but Duncan Casey, a 21-year-old native of Carrignivar (“not exactly a rugby stronghold”) who earned his rugby spurs at Glenstal Abbey before joining Shannon, makes no secret of the pride at pulling on the club jersey.

“Every club has its contingent of supporters who are going to be there all their lives but you also see young lads who watch games when their friends and relatives are playing and if the crowds aren’t enormous, they are often of a decent size.

“Everyone would have played rugby on a relatively big occasion, whether it was representative or even senior schools rugby, and they would be used to decent crowds and the build-up to big matches because when you’re at school, you’re building for nine months for one game.

“So we treat a build-up for a Limerick derby the same as any other, although mentally knowing they’re always ferocious encounters.”

* The Shannon-Young Munster game is being streamed live on www.irishrugby.ie