Limerick’s Lion King

LIMERICK rugby is today celebrating the appointment of Paul O’Connell as Lions captain for this summer’s tour to South Africa - the 29-year-old was unveiled as the man to lead the Lions on their 10-match tour, including three test matches against the Springboks.


The squad will leave for the tour, which includes tests in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg, on Sunday, May 24, a day after the Heineken Cup final.
O’Connell, one of six players to start all three Lions tests in New Zealand four years ago, has been in superb form for Munster and Ireland this season.
The Young Munster clubman is the 10th Irish man to skipper the Lions on tour.
Lions head coach Ian McGeechan unveiled the 36-strong squad at a Heathrow airport hotel this lunchtime.
While the exact make-up of the touring party was not available at the time of going to press, Munster were expected to provide the largest contingent from any one club.
Meanwhile Shannon and Garryowen will meet in an AIL semi-final for the second successive season at Coonagh on Saturday (2.30pm).
In order to ease access to Coonagh for Saturday’s big game, Shannon RFC, with the backing of the Gardaí will once again implement a traffic management plan which will facilitate the expected large volume of supporters.
In accordance with the wishes of the Gardaí, no match traffic will be allowed access through the village of Coonagh after 1pm.
Access to the village will be by Garda-issued residential permits only. As was the case for last season’s semi-final, access to Shannon RFC’s ground is via the Clonmacken roundabout on the Condell Road and along the access road for the construction of the new tunnel. The exit on the roundabout will be well sign-posted and attended by stewards. Patrons travelling to the game are advised to arrive early and adhere to the directions of the Gardaí and stewards along the route.
Shannon wish to thank the management and construction team at Direct Route for their assistance and support.
In Division 2 Old Crescent travel to the Mardyke in Cork for a semi-final clash with UCC (2.30pm).
Thomond Park has been announced as the venue for this year’ Division 1 play-off final on Saturday, May 9 for the very first time. The home of Munster Rugby will host Irish club rugby’s end of season showpiece which will see the winners of this Saturday’s semi-finals between Shannon and Garryowen and Cork Constitution and Clontarf clash in the national final.
The AIB League Division 2 and 3 play-off finals will also take place in Limerick on Saturday, May 9 with Dooradoyle, the home of Garryowen FC hosting both games. The AIB League Division 3 final will kick off at 12.00pm, followed by the AIB Division 2 final at 2.00pm.
In other news hooker Frank Sheahan returns to action for the first time since turning out against Connacht in December, in an A game against a Russian selection at Nenagh Ormond RFC tonight (7.30pm). The Russian side hail from Krasnoyarsk in Siberia - where Ireland played a World Cup qualifier some years ago - and are in Ireland on a three-match tour.

Munster A: S Deasy; A Horgan, D Barnes, T Gleeson, M Doyle; J Manning, M Prendergast; D Ryan, F Sheahan, S Archer; D Foley, B Holland; J O’Sullivan, E Grace, N Williams. Replacements: M Essex, T Ryan, I Nagle, C Sheridan, Cusack, D McCarthy.

Colm Kinsella