Shaun Payne: 'Munster is where the heart resides when it comes to rugby'

Munster's Shaun Payne goes over for a try against Benneton Treviso in the Heineken Cup. Picture: Brian Arthur/ Press 22.

Shaun Payne may be looking forward to the Lions playing the Springboks in his home town over the next three Saturdays but he cannot wait for the start of the new season and an uptick in Munster’s visits to South Africa.

The Irish Examiner caught up with Payne in Cape Town this week, as the 49-year-old bustled between site meetings on behalf of his construction company and if it was not for the pressures of his business, he may have talked a lot longer than the 30 minutes he managed. For the club he played 106 games for, including the 2006 Heineken Cup final victory over Biarritz, and then served as team manager from retirement two years later to 2012 still courses through the Payne veins.