MRSC London Branch: Season 2016/17

The MRSC London Branch have a thriving community in the greater London area and have had a very eventful season in 2016/17. They update us on their activities here…

Formed in 2010, the MRSC London Branch is in its seventh season and going strong. Despite the senior team not having a fixture in the greater London area, 2016/17 proved to be a very busy time for the MRSC London Branch.

Our first major event was the 2016 Annual London Dinner held on 11th October in the Grosvenor House Hotel where we hosted 2 tables. This year’s dinner honoured the 10th Anniversary of the 2006 Heineken Cup win with the theme "Celebrating the past, building for the future". With many of the stars of that famous win in attendance, along with heroes from other rugby sides, a great night was had by all. Anyone present that evening was left in no doubt as to the off the field work being put in place as the season commenced. Earlier that day, many London members also availed of the opportunity to attend Paul O’Connell’s London book signing.

Our first trip of the season came the following weekend as we travelled from London to Paris for the opening European Champions Cup fixture with Racing 92. The events of Sunday October 16th will forever be remembered by all Munster fans and we were proud to be present for the fantastic, impromptu tribute which unfolded at the ground that day in memory of Axel. We would like to thank the Irish Embassy in London for hosting a book of condolence for Axel in the week that followed, a book that made its way home to join the other Munster books of condolence to be passed on to his family.

The tragic events of that Paris weekend galvanised the Munster family, players, fans and staff alike in a way nobody could have imagined. Our next trip saw us take 200 members on the train and a take up of nearly 500 tickets through the MRSC London Branch for the Leicester Tigers away game mid-December. The game also saw us debut our special Santa hats. All proceeds raised from the sale of these hats were used to sponsor a seat in the lecture theatre in new High Performance Centre in Limerick. January saw us return to France and in a cold and damp Paris, a fantastic tribute was held on and off the pitch with the MRSC London members joining the Racing 92 supporters following the game for chat and a sing song.

March saw us run a bus down to Cardiff to support Ireland in their first ever Friday night Six Nations game. While the result was not what we had hoped for, a great time was had by all once again and we are delighted to see our bus trips continue to grow year on year.

Throughout the season we have seen a significant increase in our newsletter readership and social media engagement. Additionally we have welcomed many Munster visitors from home to our Central London venue and on our away trips.

April sadly saw us have to say good bye to the Temple Bar, our London HQ for the past few seasons. An expiry of the lease and the present trend in the area for whole-scale redevelopment saw venue ownership change hands and thus we are on the lookout for a new home in central London (zone 1) for next season. Please get in touch if you have anywhere to recommend. The MRSC London committee would like to thank Daniel, Ted and all those involved in the Temple Bar for their support and warm hospitality these past few seasons. We received great member feedback during our time there and it will be missed.

Finally this season also saw us sponsor the kit for our tag rugby team Munster Maoris. The team has been playing together for a few years now and we were delighted to be able to support them further.

Overall it has been a season to remember and we are already looking forward to what 2017/18 has in store for us in London and the UK. We welcome all Munster supporters to get in touch and join us where possible either at our new venue (TBC) or at one of our trips next season #SUAF

Our sincere thank you to the London Branch committee who work so hard throughout the season for our supporters across the sea. Should you wish to contact the branch at any stage you can do so via email at mrsclondon@munsterrugby.ie