450 Turn up for Breakfast in CORK and LIMERICK with Munster Rugby.

Rugby fans in Cork and Limerick had an opportunity to learn about life as a professional rugby player when Munster Rugby hosted their annual breakfast briefings in Cork (Wednesday) and Limerick (Thursday).

The purpose of the Breakfast Briefings is to give supporters a behind the scenes view of what it takes to run a professional rugby team.  Supporters also had the opportunity to take part in an open discussion with team management and players on all aspects of the professional game in a Questions & Answers session.

The breakfast briefings, hosted in association with Cork and Limerick Chambers, were held in the Clarion Hotel on Lapps Quay in Cork and the Hilton Hotel on the Ennis Road in Limerick. 450 people attended the two events with proceeds donated by Munster Rugby to the children’s units of the Mercy Hospital Cork and the Regional Hospital Limerick.

Garrett Fitzgerald, CEO of Munster Rugby explaining the exercise said, “This is our fourth year hosting these annual breakfast briefings.  It is incredible to look at the difference in the business challenges of running Munster Rugby today versus three years ago.  These briefings give us a unique opportunity to outline to the broader community the range of commercial activity required to support the operation of a professional rugby team”. 

He added “the redevelopment of Thomond Park, sponsorship deals with Adidas and Toyota along with the launch of a clothing range are just some of the major commercial developments taken place over the past year.  Each new season brings major business challenges for Munster Rugby and we have so much to look forward to with the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup approaching and the opening of our new stadium.”

Munster coach Declan Kidney was on hand at both events, joined in Cork by Doug Howlett, Rua Tipoki, Tomas O’Leary and Denis Hurley and in Limerick by Anthony Foley, Shaun Payne, Paul Warwick and Ian Dowling.

Presentation to Beryl Carswell of The Childrens Ark Project in Regional Hospital Limerick.

Anthony Foley and Ian Dowling answer questions in Limerick.

Doug Howlett and Rua Tipoki at the healm in Cork.