Munster In The Community
20th April 2016 By Munster Rugby
It’s been a very busy month on the community front with players out in force to meet fans, visit schools and lend support to club, community and charity initiatives across the province.
Easter Open Training Session
During the Easter break, hundreds of fans turned out at Irish Independent Park to see Munster train in advance of their clash with Zebre. The first two hundred fans through the gate received free tickets to the Zebre game with players posing for selfies and signing autographs after the session.
Some lucky Junior MRSC members even took part in an egg & spoon race with Simon Zebo, Conor Murray and Keith Earls.
Click here for more video and picture highlights.
“What’s Your Story?” Campaign
Munster's Niall Scannell, James Cronin and Cian Bohane visited St. Vincent's Secondary School in Cork to talk to students about Trend Micro's 2016 “What's Your Story?” video and poster competition.
“What's Your Story?” is a digital safety competition which awards up to €;8,000 in cash prizes and encourages individuals and schools, as well as youth and community groups, to share their personal online experiences. This year they will be addressing the question: “What does the Internet mean to you?”
Crumlin Hospital Visit
In making the journey to Dublin for Round 19 of the Guinness PRO12 against Leinster, the Munster squad used the opportunity to support nominated our charity, the Children's Medical & Research Foundation Crumlin, and paid a visit to Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin.
CMRF Crumlin’s No. 10 Fund will improve cardiac care by investing in life-saving research; vital equipment and ensuring that Ireland's sickest children have the best facilities possible. Every year in Ireland 500-600 infants are born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD). All of these children are treated in Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin (OLCHC).
Click here for further information and pictures of the visit.
Nepal School Fundraiser
Donnacha Ryan joined University of Limerick staff and students from the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences in support of a fundraiser to rebuild a Nepalese school. The initiative is hoping to fundraise €;20,000 to rebuild Sangachok Community School which was devastated by earthquakes last December. (Photo credit: Sean Curtin)
Club Visits
On the club font, CJ Stander lent a hand at Shannon RFC, running a training session for their underage girls.
Thanks so much to @CJStander for taking a session with our underage girls tonight. CJ is a true gent and a great ambassador for the game.
— Shannon RFC (@shannonrfc) April 13, 2016
Ronan O’Mahony and BJ Botha both took training sessions with the Garryowen U13s, while Shane Buckley and Mario Sagario made the trip to Newport RFC to present the U11s and U13s with their new kit!
Aviva Mini-Rugby Festival
Donnacha Ryan was also on hand to meet, potentially, future stars of Munster and Irish rugby at the Aviva Mini-Rugby Festival in UL. Munster’s Mark Chisholm and Mario Sagario were also there to cheer on those taking part.
West Munster U15 Blitz
Those attending this month’s West Munster U15 Blitz got a nice surprise when Munster’s Dave Foley, Tyler Bleyendaal and Gerhard van den Heever dropped in for a meet and greet.
Regeneron School Blitz
A bit of a role reversal for Robin Copeland and Dave Kilcoyne as this time they were the spectators at Thomond Park when they attended the Regeneron School Blitz, meeting with participants afterwards.
Scoil Aislinn Visit
Rory Scannell, Denis Hurley and Duncan Williams popped in to visit the students and staff of Scoil Aislinn in Cork, a school for children with autism and complex needs. The school provides a secure, caring and supportive environment through a broad curriculum of social, personal, academic, sporting, vocational and relevant life-skills programmes.
Rory, Denis and Duncan received the warmest of welcomes and the students had prepared some wonderful artwork for the occasion!
ITLG Young Innovator's Event
Cathal Sheridan and Ronan O’Mahony attended the event at Shannon Airport where over 60 teams from schools nationwide battled it out for the top prize. The ITLG Young Innovators event is designed to help in the development of key skills needed in a competitive, innovative and entrepreneurial economy.
While there Cathal and Ronan handed out tickets for Munster v Scarlets at Thomond Park (May 7th) to participating students.
@Munsterrugby @catsheridan1 @RonanOMahony1 at #YoungITLG giving out free tickets to the Scarlets game. pic.twitter.com/4Chb710E0A
— Martin McNelis (@Martin_McNelis) April 6, 2016
TLC – Team Limerick Clean-Up
Following the huge success of last year’s Team Limerick Clean-up, communities across Limerick city and county again came together for the second annual TLC clean-up day.
The event took place on Good Friday with Munster giving free access to all TLC volunteers for the clash with Zebre at Thomond Park that evening.