McMahon: Munster not there to make up numbers

Colm McMahon, coach of the Munster team facing up to some of the finest teams in the world in the Limerick World Club Sevens at Thomond Park on August 9th and 10th, is under no illusions as to the extent of the challenge awaiting them.

The former Shannon and Munster flanker has played for Ireland but acknowledges the Sevens game has not caught on in this country. In contrast, some of the teams coming, from Commonwealth Games champions South Africa to New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and even the United States, concentrate on Sevens in a big way, not least because it will feature for the first time in the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

Many countries have a specialised programme in which players just play Sevens all the year round. They go on the circuit and go to the big cities and compete in the IRB World Sevens.