€500,000: The price of failure for Munster

As if the stakes for Munster were not high enough ahead of Friday’s Guinness Pro12 showdown with Edinburgh, chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald has warned that defeat in the last two games of the season could cost the province €500,000.

With Munster currently seventh in the table with home games to come against sixth-placed Edinburgh and fifth-placed Scarlets, the chief executive believes failure to secure the top-six finish necessary to make the Champions Cup pool draw for next season could cost “in excess of €500,000” at the turnstiles.

“You have to be looking at that, and that’s just being practical and just taking it from experience. But you could be lucky, if you didn’t make the Champions Cup, with the draw as well,” Fitzgerald said after the appointment of Johan ‘Rassie’ Erasmus as Munster’s first director of rugby for next season on a three-year deal.