Thomond tribute for tragic Nevin Spence

MUNSTER supporters will sing the renowned Ulster Rugby anthem ‘Stand up for the Ulstermen’ before Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 game against the Dragons in Thomond Park in memory of Nevin Spence, the young Ulster centre who died tragically on his family farm last weekend.

Spence died alongside his father Graham and brother Noel after entering a slurry tank on the farm last Saturday. The 22-year-old, who was an unused replacement when Ulster beat Munster in the Heineken Cup quarter-final last season and started when the sides met in the league a couple of weeks later, played for the Ulster Ravens against Munster ‘A’ on Friday.

Ian Buckley, secretary of the Munster Rugby Supporters Club, confirmed that supporters will sing the chorus of the song immediately after the minute’s silence.

“Following a minute’s silence on Saturday, we would like to invite all supporters attending Munster v Dragons on Saturday to join us in a chorus of Stand up for the Ulstermen’ in tribute to Nevin, Noel and Graeme Spence,” wrote Buckley on the MRSC Facebook and Twitter sites.

And Buckley claims that supporters have been busy raising awareness of the gesture all week.

“Our members have also taken up the baton and have started tweeting the message themselves. We believe that such a gesture is best served directly from the supporters without any prompting on the day. Organised spontanaeity if you will.

“MRSC will be opening a book of condolence in the Cork and Limerick Munster Rugby Stores also.”

It is expected that something similar will happen at all the other RaboDirect PRO12 games this weekend. Leinster host Edinburgh at the RDS, Connacht are away to the Glasgow Warriors, the Cardiff Blues are at home to Treviso while Scarlets host the Ospreys in the big Welsh derby. Ulster’s game away to Zebre has understandably been postponed. The funeral service for the deceased Spence members is to take place today (Wednesday) with a memorial service in Ravenhill on Sunday at 3pm.