Was the South Africa match a prelude to moving more matches to Cork?

10 years ago Thomond Park was packed for European games. I got my season ticket to make sure I would always get a ticket. I can't remember the last time I saw it packed to the rafters as back then. Mates who used to struggle to get tickets anywhere in the stadium now have no problem getting one in the same area that we have our season tickets and we usually see a sprinkling of empty seats around us. Down in the terraces the days of arriving in an hour before to get a central space with a barrier to lean on are long gone. Now they don't fill up until 10 minutes before the start.

I can't see Munster moving to PuC for regular games. Special games like last night yes. But beyond that no. Even for knockout games the IRFU will want them to use the Aviva to keep the cash in house.

Nobody ever travelled from anywhere to a match in Thomand

The decline in attendance in Thomond has nothing to do with the cost of living crisis. It has been going on for years.

Have you set foot in Musgrave recently? I have. It's only 8,000 capacity and never sold out either. And many of the faces I see there are also faces I see in Thomond. If the demand for Munster games is so much higher in Cork than in Limerick then maybe you'd want to prove that by encouraging a few Cork lads to start going to Musgrave park.

You're correct about alternative sports taking fans. Success breeds support and Munster have been struggling recently. That's definately a significant factor in Limerick these days and to a much lesser degree in Cork. Yes Cork may not have had any recent success in any sport (bar rowing) but as Munster have lost more games recently than in the past the prospect of watching Cork regularly lose matches in GAA and Soccer doesn't seem as unappealing to the casual fan so a handful are doubtless heading to Turners Cross and PuC on GAA days. They never sell out either though. I'll take the atmosphere in a 90% full Thomond over a 50% full PuC.

Maybe it's officially a sell out but it never feels that way. Plenty of space especially at either end. I think when the redevelopment reopened first there were a few busy nights but other than that not remotely full. I had a season ticket for the terrace and never had a problem paying €10 for a seat in that temporary stand we had for a couple of years. Lots of seats there. Then yes the atmosphere improved for a while after the redevelopment. Did ask once could I upgrade to the stand and was told not any more. Now it never feels remotely full in the terraces and there are seats around the stand empty. Will ask next time if I can pay for an upgrade to the stand to see if that option is back. That will tell a lot if the empty seats didn't sell or are no-shows.

I think PuC might become Munster's preferred venue for European Semi Finals, where use of your own stadium isn't allowed in the first place. There were a lot of red faces last year when we had to move our home quarter final clash with Toulouse to Dublin due to Ed Sheeran playing in Thomond Park and if we had beaten Toulouse then to bring our hard fought home Semi-Final to the home of our opposition would have caused much anger.

I must be said that just because it will be Munster's preferred venue doesn't guarantee anything. You would still need agreement from the EPCR, the IRFU and the GAA. In that order the EPCR are most likely to sanction it, they've been happy with stadiums from other codes before, while the IRFU will likely show a preference for Landsdowne Road and then there could be a clash with the GAA April-July season so that would be the GAA out

I can't see regular season matches or even European Quarter Finals (that aren't disrupted by music gigs) being moved there at all and personally I wouldn't like to see it. Our homes are Musgrave and Thomond

It used to be encouraged not to have a home in your own ground.

It might have changed after the end of the Heineken Cup but the away team at a quarter final get half the profit from hosting the game.

If you moved from your home venue to one a certain amount bigger the home teams % of profit would go from 50% to 65%.

I wonder if they'd ever come to the conclusion that Leinster shouldn't be having home semi-finals in Landsdowne Road on account of it being a home venue of theirs...

Maybe that the IRFU's thinking...

The next obvious step is to move one of the interpros to Cork and see if the same level of interest remains.

Knockout games are springtime and clash with the GAA season. You dont get to decide the day and time so its probably not an option, or at least a very difficult one to have.

I think the novelty of an Ulster or Connacht game could sell well but a Leinster game would make most sense.

The Sunday Times are saying that no matches will happen next year in the venue.

That would be about right anyway but I reckon we could see a competitive game there at some stage

Meanwhile the locals aren't happy with the GAA

They could do all 3 and make extra money by hosting a big game in Cork every so often.

We need to money

Surey that anger should be directed at the gardai as much as anyone else

100% but at every ground, car parked for GAA matches seem to get away with murder when where & how they park.

I don't blame the association, like you I blame the drivers and the gardai for not doing more

Of course Munster depend on the Cork County Board making the stadium available but why shouldn't Munster at least look to host games there if it made financial sense.

On the underage thing, we've a ton of bigs games in Limerick every season, we play the 3 interpros here, one against one of the best clubs in the world, then we play an English & French club here every season. If that doesn't whet the appetite then matches isn't the issue.