
Last modified: 2010-06-11 by rob raeside
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image by Ivan Sache, 8 May 2010
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Munster Rugby (Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch) is one of the four 
provincial branches of the Irish Rugby Football Union. It manages the provincial 
team of Munster, which plays the Celtic League and the European Rugby Cup, 
mostly at Thomond Park, Limerick, famous for the "Respect the kicker" rule 
unanimously observed by the supporters. The Munster "Red Army" is the only Irish 
team to have defeated the All Blacks, 12-0 in 1978, at Thomond Park. Once 
considered as the best team that never won the European Cup, Munster defeated 
Biarritz in 2006 (23-19) and Toulouse in 2008 (16-13), both times in Cardiff. On 
2 May 2009, 82,209 fans attended the semi-final Munster-Leinster at Croke Park, 
Dublin, which is the world record of attendance for a club's rugby match; 
Leinster won 25-6. The Munster squad included in 2009-2010 17 members of the 
Ireland national team, past or present, several of them having been taught in 
local clubs (John Hayes, Marcus Horan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, 
Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara...)
The official Munster Rugby flag is red 
with the crest. The flag is hoisted over Thomond Park at Limerick, the home of 
Munster Rugby, and widely used by the Munster supporters. The crest was adopted 
in 2003. It shows on an oval blue background, surrounded by a yellow border 
charged with "MUNSTER RUGBY" in blue, the three crowns and the stag's head of 
Munster, all in yellow.
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2003/07/03/story931514581.asp: 
Presentation of the new Munster crest, "The Irish Times", 3 July 2003
Sightings:
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/6901.php - Photo of flags on the official 
website
http://www.irishrugby.ie/6855_12239.php - Photo of the "Red Tide", "Paint it 
Red" project, May 2008
http://www.thomondpark.ie/news/6232.php - Photo of the "Red Tide", Thomond 
Park website
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emulvey/3418662238/in/set-72057594071215367 - 
Flagbearers, Munster-Leinster, 4 April 2009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindamolloy/4486427597/in/pool-munsterfans 
- Flagbearer, Munster-Leinster, 2 April 2010
Beforehand, 
Munster Rugby used a red flag with the province's coat of arms (with the 
crowns less stylized than on the province's flag) surmounted by "MUNSTER RUGBY" 
in white letters:
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2911568790093908334QVXUcl - Photo uploaded 
on Webshots, 7 July 2006
Ivan Sache, 8 May 2010