Munster Rugby v Connacht Rugby Match Programme

v CONNACHT | FRI 14 MAY 2021 | THOMOND PARK | 6PM 

MUNSTER v CONNACHT | 14.05.21 | THOMOND PARK 

1

READY 

TO Rise 

Again 

A thousand voices. 

A thousand places. 

One club. 

© 2020 adidas AG 

2 WWW.MUNSTERRUGBY.IE

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME 

are few of our newer players who have yet to 

experience the atmosphere of a full Thomond 

Park, something that both players and all the 

Munster faithful are really looking forward to. 

I know I speak for you all when I wish Johann, 

all the coaching team and the entire squad the 

best of luck in tonight’s game. 

This evening we welcome Andy Friend and his 

team to Thomond Park for this Round 3 game 

in the Rainbow Cup. 

Connacht got off to a great start in this series 

with an away win over Ulster in Round 1 but 

suffered a loss to Leinster last weekend at 

the Sportsground. Munster on the other hand 

have two from two after their impressive 

performance and win against Ulster last Friday 

night. 

All interpro games are important but this one 

is a little more significant. For Connacht, a win 

would put them back in the mix at the top end of 

the table, while for Munster a home win could 

keep them in top spot, but that will depend 

on the result from the Benetton v Zebre game 

tomorrow night. It is all to play for and it’s a 

game that deserves a full Thomond Park crowd. 

For the moment, it is only the 1400+ portraits 

and all the club and school jerseys in the stand 

that will be there. The day is hopefully getting 

ever nearer to when we will be there in person 

once again. It is hard to believe that there 

Over the last short while, pictures of our young 

and thankfully now the not so young players 

out training is really positive. While there is a bit 

to go yet, hopefully we are on the home straight 

and normality resumes sometime soon. In the 

meantime, keep doing the right things, abide by 

the guidelines and we will get there. 

Our congratulations to Conor Murray and 

Tadhg Beirne on their Lions selection and to 

all our Munster players involved in the Ireland 

U20s and 7s series. 

Our sympathies and thoughts to the family 

of Martin Breen who sadly passed away 

last week. Martin from Waterpark RFC was 

President of the Munster Branch in 1998/99. 

May he rest in peace. 

Once again, our thanks to our main sponsor 

Bank of Ireland, our kit supplier adidas and all 

our sponsors for their continued support. 

Stay strong, stay positive and stay safe. 

Seán McCullough 

President Munster Branch IRFU 

President: Sean McCullough | Vice President: Ger McNamara | Junior Vice President: Michael Carroll 

Hon. Secretary: Muiris Mahon| Hon. Treasurer: Tom Kinirons 

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Ian Flanagan | Head Coach: Johann van Graan | Team Manager: Niall O’Donovan 


3

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5

MUNSTER v CONNACHT 

Munster and Benetton will put their 100 per cent records on the line this week as the Guinness PRO14 

Rainbow Cup prepares for an action-packed Round 3. 

The Irish side and Italian challengers are the 

only two northern section teams with unbeaten 

records after two matches, opening a threepoint 

gap on their closest rivals the Dragons. 

Munster host Connacht at Thomond Park on 

Friday while Benetton are in derby mode again 

when they play at home to Zebre 24 hours later. 

Munster have lost just once in their last five 

matches on home soil - against Heineken 

Champions Cup opponents Toulouse. 

Connacht launched their Rainbow Cup 

campaign with an impressive 26-24 victory over 

RAINBOW CUP ROUND 3 PREVIEW 

Ulster but they have not won successive away 

games since February and gone more than 

three years since last beating Munster. 

Elsewhere, Leinster and Ulster face off in 

Dublin tonight, Cardiff Blues and Scarlets play 

tomorrow afternoon followed by Benetton v 

Zebre and Edinburgh v Glasgow Warrior. On 

Sunday, Dragons play Ospreys. 

The competition's intensity is underlined by the 

fact that 10 of the 12 northern sides have won at 

least one game, with only Zebre and Ulster yet 

to get off the mark. 

Gavin Coombes 

powers through 

the Ulster defence 

POS TEAM PL W D L PF PA DIFF TF TA TB LB Points 

1 Munster Rugby 2 2 0 0 65 13 52 9 1 1 0 9 

2 Benetton Rugby 2 2 0 0 71 39 32 9 5 1 0 9 

3 Dragons 2 1 0 1 68 49 19 8 7 1 1 6 

4 Ospreys 2 1 0 1 42 36 6 6 3 1 0 5 

5 Leinster Rugby 2 1 0 1 53 48 5 8 5 1 0 5 

6 Scarlets 2 1 0 1 54 58 -4 6 7 1 0 5 

7 Glasgow Warriors 2 1 0 1 48 65 -17 7 9 1 0 5 

8 Connacht Rugby 2 1 0 1 47 74 -27 6 12 1 0 5 

9 Edinburgh Rugby 2 1 0 1 43 47 -4 6 6 0 0 4 

10 Cardiff Blues 2 1 0 1 31 52 -21 4 7 0 0 4 

11 Zebre Rugby Club 2 0 0 2 38 49 -11 4 6 0 2 2 

12 Ulster Rugby 2 0 0 2 34 64 -30 5 10 1 1 2 


Mike Haley is 

presented with the 

Guinness Player of 

the Match award by 

Peter O'Mahony after 

the Ulster game last 

weekend 

HEAD TO HEAD 

Munster wins 

32 5 1 

Connacht wins 

Draw 

Abraham Papali’i 

in action last 

weekend 

MATCH FACTS 

• Munster’s only defeat at Thomond Park in 

their last five matches was to Toulouse in 

the Round of 16 of the European Champions 

Cup. 

• Connacht Rugby’s only win in their last six 

matches was 26-24 at Ulster in the opening 

round of the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup. 

• Connacht have not won successive away 

games since February. 

• Munster have won their last seven matches 

against Connacht since Connacht’s 20-16 

victory at the Sportsground in October 2017. 

• Connacht have won only once at Thomond 

Park since 1986: 18-12 in November 2015. 


7

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9

THE INSIDE 

TRACK 

JOHANN VAN GRAAN 

On the performances over the last few weeks… 

“Feather in the cap of all players and management 

involved. We didn’t change so much, we entered 

the Champions Cup to do very well, the same with 

the PRO14, we lost in that final, we lost against a 

very good Toulouse team in an excellent game of 

rugby. We were just short in the end. Everybody 

just knuckled down, and we just stuck to our 

processes. I thought we really played well in our 

last two games. Now it showed on the scoreboard, 

that win against Leinster away and I was very 

happy with our performance on Friday night 

against a very good Ulster side.” 

On the most satisfying part of the win last 

weekend from a coaching perspective? 

“It is nice to get a complete performance. I thought 

our mindset was very good going into the game. 

We conceded that penalty to go down 3-0 but 

we stuck to the processes, we converted our 

opportunities. I thought our breakdown work was 

excellent on both sides of the ball. That’s a big part 

of our DNA and it is something we will keep going 

back to. I thought some of our phase attack and 

some of our options were very, very good. The one 

thing that we shouldn’t miss if you look at our last 

two games is our defence. We conceded 3 points 

against Leinster and 10 points against Ulster. So in 

our last two games against two sides in the PRO14 

who also won 14/16 in the league phase, the same 

as ourselves. We conceded 13 points in the last 

160 minutes so, a lot to be positive about from 

a coaches’ perspective or from a coaching staff 

perspective. We made nine changes to the team. 

We will make some changes to the team again this 

weekend and once we know what’s happening to 

the rest of the tournament, we will keep backing our 

squad. We said as a group before this competition 

is we can only control our performance and would 

like to perform in this part of the season, and let’s 

keep backing the squad. All credit to the players 

they got stuck into every training session and we 

have had two really good games and now we have 

another interpro coming up.” 

On playing Connacht this evening… 

“We just keep focussing on ourselves and we 

would like to perform again on Friday evening. 

I know the games against Connacht have been 

really tough over the last season. We were up by 

quite a bit in the Sportsground just after Christmas 

and they came back. I think we finished the game 

with 13 men on our own goal line. The next game 

we saw as a quarter final at Thomond Park - I think 

it was at the end of February if I’m not mistaken. 

That was really tight with a few minutes to go so 

it’s another interpro. There’s a lot of pride at stake. 

If we look at the competition, a lot of sides are still 

in this competition. If it’s only going to be 5 rounds, 

you can’t afford to lose twice. So obviously they 

have got a lot to play for and so have we, so we are 

really looking forward to Friday night. But it’s still a 

time of Covid and for us it’s great to play another 

game of rugby. The conditions have been good 

over the last two games and hopefully we can get 

another good game on Friday night with some 

good conditions.” 


CRAIG CASEY 

On having the opportunity to learn from Conor 

Murray and the reaction to his Lions selection… 

“Obviously, he’s buzzing, it’s great for the club, for 

himself and Tadhg to be with the Lions. I know it’s 

Mur’s third tour which is an incredible achievement 

for him in fairness. It’s a credit to the work he puts 

in. He has been buzzing for the last week obviously. 

I thought he did a very good job on Friday night, he 

put the Lions announcement past him and played 

well. Learning off him for the past few years has 

been great. I keep coming back to this - when I was 

coming out of school, I knew I needed to work on 

my kicking game and who better to have the best 

kicking 9 in the world to work off so, he has given 

me a lot of tips. It’s a competitive environment… 

I’m always trying to up him and he’s always trying 

to up me, same with Nick (McCarthy), Patsy 

(Patterson) and Ethan (Coughlan) at the minute 

so it’s been great, a competitive environment is 

brilliant so like I’ve said it’s been class.” 

bounds being able to play quicker from the fitness 

and lockdown and stuff. It has been good.” 

On how Munster are playing at the moment… 

“I think it shows the resolve in the squad that we 

have bounced back from the two defeats, they 

were very disappointing obviously. I think it has 

been good to bounce back the last two games 

against tough oppositions, Leinster and Ulster. I 

just think it clicked the last two weeks to be honest. 

I think we have been building nicely over the last 

few months. Our attack has been going well so I 

think we have showed that in the last two weeks 

definitely, scoring over 60 points. So yeah, we are 

taking our opportunities.” 

On his strengths as a player… 

“I like to play with a massive tempo. My passing 

game is probably what I call my point of difference, 

so I like to whip out passes and play at high tempo 

and try and make decisions at a high pace. That’s 

probably what I would base my game around.” 

On his ambition to get more game time in the 

Irish jersey in light of the announcement of 

summer fixtures… 

“100%, it’s definitely a goal of mine to be involved 

in those two games and make the most out of them 

but I think my focus lies on this weekend and the 

games coming up because I have to play my best 

to even get on the squad. So I’m looking forward 

to the next few games hopefully putting a run of 

a few games together and potentially getting on 

that squad.” 

On how his game has progressed over the past 

year… 

“I think it has come on leaps and bounds. 

Obviously, we went into lockdown, it was 

definitely a chance to work on my fitness and 

my robustness. I think the first lockdown helped 

me put on a bit of robustness and put games 

together and once you’re playing back-to-back, the 

consistency comes and you’re more confident out 

on the field and things happen. I think it has come 

on leaps and bounds. Steve as well has given me 

lots of tips, a few ‘work-ons’ that I needed to bring 

into my game, so I think it has come on leaps and 


11



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NEWSROUND 

RAINBOW CUP FIXTURES CONFIRMED 

The remaining fixtures for the Northern and Southern Rainbow Cup competitions have been put 

in place with kick-off times and broadcast details confirmed. 

Following Friday night’s fixture against Connacht, 

Munster will face Cardiff Blues at Thomond Park 

on Friday, May 28 at 7.35pm before a clash away 

to Zebre on Friday, June 11 (6pm Irish time). 

Across the remaining five rounds of action, four 

will see action taking place in both hemispheres 

as with fixtures taking place every week right 

through the weekend of June 12. 

Meanwhile the South African sides will play a 

total of six games across seven weeks and take 

a bye weekend on May 28. Supporters in Ireland 

and Britain can watch all the Rainbow Cup SA 

action on eir Sport and Premier Sports. 

Teams in the northern Guinness PRO14 Rainbow 

Cup will play a total of five games across six 

rounds prior to the final while teams previously 

scheduled to host a South African team will 

receive a bye week between Rounds 4 to 6. 

IRELAND 7S SQUADS 

ANNOUNCED 

Munster’s Amee Leigh Murphy-Crowe, Emily 

Lane and Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird are in action 

this weekend for the Ireland 7s team at the 

International Rugby 7s where they will go head 

to head with the hosts Great Britain and France. 

Munster’s Alex Kendellen, Conor Phillips 

and Jack Crowley have been selected for the 

Ireland Men’s 7s squad playing at the same 

event in St. George’s Park. The side continue 

their preparations for the World Rugby Sevens 

Repechage event and were this week drawn in 

Pool A alongside Samoa, Tonga, Zimbabwe and 

Mexico for the repechage in Monaco. The final 

qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games 

takes place on 19-20 June. 

Emily Lane 

Mike Haley and JJ Hanrahan in action 

against Cardiff in February 

IRELAND U20s CONTINUE SIX 

NATIONS PREPARATION 

Ireland U20s continue their preparation for the 

postponed 2021 Six Nations with a three-day 

camp at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre in 

Dublin. 

A group of 37 players participated in the 

camp as preparations for the postponed 2021 

Six Nations Championships begin to take 

shape. The coaching group of Richie Murphy, 

Denis Leamy, Colm Tucker and Tom Tierney 

oversaw five pitch sessions and off-field team 

organisational work. 

Munster players in attendance: 

Mark Donnelly (Garryowen FC) NTS 

Alan Flannery (Shannon RFC) NTS 

John Forde (Cork Constitution FC) Munster PTS 

Jack Kelleher (UCC RFC) Munster PTS 

Aaron Leahy (CBC) NTS 

Daniel Okeke (Shannon RFC) NTS 

Jamie Shanahan (Garryowen FC) Munster PTS 

Cian Whooley (UCC RFC) Munster PTS 

MUNSTER v CONNACHT | 14.05.21 | THOMOND PARK 15

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GREENCORE MUNSTER 

RUGBY ACADEMY NEWS 

It has been a busy past month for the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy. 

Ian Costello was appointed to the role of 

Academy Manager in April and will return to 

the province in the summer having worked in 

England for the past five years with Nottingham 

and then Wasps. See full details HERE. 

We can confirm that former Munster player 

Andi Kyriacou also rejoins the province as Elite 

Player Development Officer (Forwards). Andi 

has previously coached at Cardiff Blues, Sale 

Sharks, Russia Rugby and Nottingham. 

Ben Healy made a further two appearances for 

the senior side over the past month and has 

now featured in 16 of Munster’s 22 games so 

far this season. 

There have been 43 senior appearances for 

Academy players across the Guinness PRO14, 

Champions Cup and Rainbow Cup in the 2020/21 

campaign. 

Academy trio Jack 

Crowley, Alex 

Kendellen and Conor 

Phillips have been 

training with the 

Ireland 7s team and 

have been named 

in their squad for this weekend’s International 

Rugby 7s tournament. See full details HERE. 

On the injury front, Eoin O’Connor (knee), John 

Hodnett (achilles), James French (hamstring), 

Jonathan Wren (hamstring), Cian Hurley 

(thumb), Scott Buckley (knee) and Thomas 

Ahern (knee) are continuing to rehab. 

The future continues to be bright with an 

expected highest representation of academy 

graduates in over eight years in the squad next 

season with 66% of the senior squad having 

come through the ranks. 

Fifteen players commenced the 2020/21 season 

with two additional players, Cian Hurley and 

Conor Phillips, joining in January 2021. See the 

full Academy squad HERE. 

Nine players from the current group will advance 

to senior contracts ahead of the 2021/22 season 

– Thomas Ahern, Jack Crowley, Jack Daly, Jake 

Flannery, James French, Seán French, Ben 

Healy, John Hodnett and Josh Wycherley. 

Eoghan Clarke has completed his time with the 

academy and linked up with Championship side 

Jersey Reds at the end of March. 

Seven academy players made their Guinness 

PRO14 debuts this season – Thomas Ahern, Jack 

Crowley, Jack Daly, Seán French, Cian Hurley, 

Alex Kendellen and Josh Wycherley. Young 

prop Wycherley also made his Champions Cup 

debut this season. 


19

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THE LOWDOWN 

THE FORM GUIDE 

Connacht had a strong start to their interpro 

clash with Leinster at the Sportsground last 

Saturday night, leading 16-0 early in the first 

half after Caolin Blade and Peter Sullivan both 

touched down. However, Leinster’s reaction 

was fierce, touching down five times in a 20 

minute period which put them 33-16 ahead at 

the break. Another Sullivan try in the second 

half was not enough to stop Leinster with the 

visitors winning 21-50. 

In Round 1 of the Rainbow Cup, Connacht 

impressed in their two point win over Ulster at 

Kingspan Stadium with Caolin Blade scoring a 

brace of tries and Peter Sullivan’s 80th minute 

effort securing the win. 

Connacht bowed out of the Challenge Cup 

on April 3 last, going down 48-32 to Leicester 

Tigers at Welford Road despite tries from Kieran 

Marmion, Eoghan Masterson, Alex Wootton 

and Paul Boyle and 12 points from the boot of 

Jack Carty. 

Connacht finished second in Conference B 

behind Munster with 8 wins from 16 but scored 

the most tries in the conference with 53. 

Jack Carty is the club’s top scorer with 115 

points in all competitions this season. Alex 

Wootton is the top try scorer with 11 tries. 

Bundee Aki will represent the province this 

summer in South Africa as he was named on 

the British & Irish Lions squad last week. 

THE COACHING TICKET 

We welcome back Andy Friend and his coaching 

team to Thomond Park. Friend has been with 

the province since 2018 and the Australian 

had previous stints with the Waratahs and the 

Brumbies. He joined Harlequins in 2005 as 

Head Coach where he spent three seasons, and 

subsequently returned to the Brumbies as Head 

Coach where he remained until 2011. Friend 

also worked as a head coach in Japan for four 

seasons. On the international stage he worked 

as part of Eddie Jones’ Wallabies coaching 

team and guided the Australian U21 team to the 

final of the World Championships in 2005. Prior 

to making the move to Galway, Friend was Head 

Coach of the Australian Sevens team. Connacht 

recently announced that former Stade Francais 

and Grenoble coach Dewal Senekal will join the 

province as forwards coach next season. 

ONE TO WATCH 

Position: Scrum half 

Age: 27 

Born: Galway 

Appearances: 14 

Tries: 5 

Clean breaks: 11 

Metres: 270 

Carries: 62 

Tackles: 35 

*2020/21 PRO14 & RC 

CAOLIN BLADE 


21

STEPHEN ARCHER 

Prop 

29.01.88 

H: 1.88m 

W: 120.91kg 

Hons: Ire (2 caps) 

Hooker 

06.08.99 

H:1.83m 

W: 98kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

DIARMUID BARRON 

TADHG BEIRNE 

Lock / Back Row 

08.01.92 

H: 1.98 m 

W: 113.18 kg 


Flanker 

15.02.91 

H: 1.76 m 

W: 98 kg 

Hons: ~ 

CHRIS CLOETE 

Back Row 

11.12.1997 

H: 1.98m 

W: 110kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

GAVIN COOMBES 

JAMES CRONIN 

Prop 

23.11.90 

H: 1.80 m 

W: 113 kg 


Lock / Back Row 

03.08.85 

H: 1.91 m 

W: 111 kg 

Hons: Ire (1 cap) 

BILLY HOLLAND 

DAVE KILCOYNE 

Prop 

14.12.88 

H: 1.83 m 

W: 112 kg 


JEAN KLEYN 

Lock 

26.08.93 

H: 2.03 m 

W: 125 kg 


Prop 

06.04.99 

H: 1.85m 

W: 115kg 

Hons: ~ 

KEYNAN KNOX 

Prop 

22.07.95 

H: 1.85 m 

W: 120 kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

JEREMY LOUGHMAN 

Hooker 

12.10.92 

H: 1.84 m 

W: 108 kg 

Hons: NZ U20 

RHYS MARSHALL 

Hooker 

16.04.91 

H: 1.80 m 

W: 107 kg 

Hons: Ire U19 

KEVIN O’BYRNE 

Prop 

13.07.95 

H: 1.78 m 

W: 110 kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

LIAM O’CONNOR 

TOMMY O’DONNELL 

Back Row 

21.05.87 

H: 1.85 m 

W: 107 kg 


JACK O’DONOGHUE 

Back Row 

08.02.94 

H: 1.91 m 

W: 107 kg 


PETER O’MAHONY 

Back Row 

17.09.89 

H: 1.91 m 

W: 106 kg 


Back Row 

01.10.98 

H: 1.88m 

W: 100kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

JACK O’SULLIVAN 

JOHN RYAN 

Prop 

02.08.88 

H: 1.83 m 

W: 117 kg 


Prop 

28.10.97 

H:1.83m 

W: 123.18kg 

Hons: USA U20 

ROMAN SALANOA 

NIALL SCANNELL 

Hooker 

08.04.92 

H: 1.85 m 

W: 109 kg 


RG SNYMAN 

Lock 

29.01.95 

H: 2.06 m 

W: 116 kg 

Hons: SA (23 caps) 

CJ STANDER 

Back Row 

05.04.90 

H: 1.85 m 

W: 114 kg 


Lock 

11.12.97 

H:1.93 m 

W: 111.82 kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

FINEEN WYCHERLEY 

FORWARDS 

Munster Rugby Squad - 2020/21 Season 


JOEY CARBERY 

Fly Half 

01.11.95 

H: 1.83 m 

W: 85kg 


Scrum Half 

19.04.99 

H: 1.65 m 

W: 75kg 


CRAIG CASEY 

ANDREW CONWAY 

Full Back / Wing 

11.07.91 

H: 1.80 m 

W: 89 kg 


LIAM COOMBES 

Full Back / Wing 

01.05.97 

H: 1.91m 

W: 89 kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

Scrum Half 

08.12.92 

H: 1.73 m 

W: 83 kg 

Hons: Ire Clubs 

NEIL CRONIN 

Wing / Centre 

19.12.96 

H: 1.91 m 

W: 91 kg 


SHANE DALY 

DAMIAN DE ALLENDE 

Centre 

25/11/1991 

H: 1.91 m 

W: 105 kg 

Hons: SA (47 caps) 

KEITH EARLS 

Universal Back 

02.10.87 

H: 1.78 m 

W: 90 kg 


CHRIS FARRELL 

Centre 

16.03.93 

H: 1.93 m 

W: 110 kg 


Full Back 

26.10.96 

H:1.85m 

W: 95 kg 

Hons: Eng U20 

MATT GALLAGHER 

Centre 

10.12.94 

H: 1.85 m 

W: 100 kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

DAN GOGGIN 

Full Back 

28.06.94 

H: 1.91 m 

W: 93 kg 


MIKE HALEY 

RORY SCANNELL 

CALVIN NASH 

CONOR MURRAY 

ALEX MCHENRY 

NICK MCCARTHY 

JJ HANRAHAN 

Fly Half / Centre 

27.07.92 

H: 1.83 m 

W: 93 kg 

Hons: Emerging Ireland 

Scrum Half 

25.03.95 

H: 1.8m 

W: 84 kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

Centre 

07.10.97 

H: 1.88m 

W: 95kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

Scrum Half 

20.04.89 

H: 1.88 m 

W: 94 kg 


Wing 

08.08.97 

H: 1.78 m 

W: 90 kg 

Hons: Ire U20 

Centre 

22.12.93 

H: 1.80 m 

W: 98 kg 


Wing 

05.05.93 

H: 1.85 m 

W: 95 kg 


DARREN SWEETNAM 

BACKS 


23

MUNSTER RUGBY 

STARTING XV 

James Cronin Rhys Marshall John Ryan Jean Kleyn Billy Holland 

Gavin Coombes 

Peter 

O'Mahony (C) 

CJ Stander 

Craig Casey 

Ben Healy 

Shane Daly 

Damian de 

Allende 

Dan Goggin 

Andrew Conway 

Matt Gallagher 

#MUNvCON 

JOIN THE CONVERSATION 

Replacements 

16. Niall Scannell 17. Dave Kilcoyne 18. Stephen Archer 19. Tadhg Beirne 

20. Jack O'Donoghue 21. Conor Murray 22. Joey Carbery 23. Keith Earls 


CONNACHT RUGBY 

STARTING XV 

Paddy McAllister 

Shane Delahunt 

Dominic 

Robertson-McCoy 

Niall Murray 

Ultan Dillane 

Cian Prendergast 

Conor Oliver 

Abraham Papali’i 

Kieran Marmion 

Conor Fitzgerald 

Alex Wootton 

Tom Daly (C) 

Sean O’Brien 

Sammy Arnold 

John Porch 

MATCH OFFICIALS 

Referee: Dan Jones (WRU) 

AR1: Eoghan Cross (IRFU) 

AR2: Peter Martin (IRFU) 

TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU) 

Replacements 

16. Dave Heffernan 17. Denis Buckley 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Eoghan Masterson 

20. Sean Masterson 21. Caolin Blade 22. Jack Carty 23. Peter Sullivan 


25

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GIVING GIRLS A CHANCE TO TRY 

Former Munster player and Ireland international Amanda Greensmith in her current role as the 

IRFU’s Women’s Development Manager has reflected on the strides the women’s game has made 

in recent years in an interview with Irish Rugby. 

Greensmith, who represented Ireland over 20 

times and also played for her province for 13 

seasons, initially took up a role as Women’s 

Community Rugby Officer with Munster in 2010. 

During that time, the Ballyhea native experienced 

first-hand the growth of girls and women’s rugby 

in the province before applying her acquired 

knowledge at the national level in her current 

role with the IRFU. 

“Those years with Munster really generated 

huge excitement around the women’s game 

for me,” Greensmith said. “When you see first 

hand the work being done in clubs and schools, 

and the impact that has on young girls, is 

remarkable. You remember every conversation 

with a teacher, coach or parent when they tell 

you one of the girls has come out of their shell 

or has never been so engaged with PE or a sport 

before, and that’s what it’s all about. 

“Being part of the pathways that help players get 

into Provincial and National jerseys is of course 

fantastic, but there’s also that joy of helping 

a person find their fit. Be it at schools, club or 

international level. Providing those opportunities 

for girls to fulfil whatever their ambition is. That’s 

our job.” 

The holistic approach to coaching which is 

adopted throughout the province at underage 

level has yielded dividends in recent years with 

many clubs experiencing a growth in numbers in 

their respective girls and women’s programmes. 

Ennis RFC’s women’s team will be hoping to play 

their inaugural competitive match later this year 

after their debut season was cut short due to the 

pandemic. 

Equally as important, the emergence of new role 

models at the highest level of the game continue 

to act as a source of inspiration for the younger 

generation. With the recently concluded 2021 

Women’s Six Nations, Cork native Emily Lane 

and Tipperary native Amee Leigh Murphy- 

Crowe both made their international 15s debuts 

while the likes of Dorothy Wall, Eimear Considine 

and Ireland captain Ciara Griffin, to name but a 

few, continue to perform on the biggest stage. 

“You’re always proud of the players who go on 

to achieve their ambitions, whether that’s with 

their club, their province or with Ireland, but to 

give young girls the opportunity to get active 

and try rugby is massive. 

“The key thing for me is simply 

giving someone the chance to 

find their sport, or find their fit. 

To say, this is where I feel most 

comfortable and I’m most 

happy. It’s that opportunity to 

be around friends, team-mates 

and to Give It A Try, because 

you just don’t know where it 

will take you, and I certainly 

didn’t know where rugby 

would take me either.” 

New programmes have been set up – Dolphin 

RFC in Cork City have recently set up a brand 

new girls and women’s rugby programme while 

If your club is interested in participating in girls’ rugby please contact Munster Rugby 

Women’s Development Officer Ken Imbusch at kenimbusch@munsterrugby.ie 


27

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RUGBY DEVELOPMENT NEWS 

TAG RUGBY RETURNS FOR SUMMER OF FUN 

The IRFU Rugby Development Department 

have come together with the four provinces to 

announce a new strategy for the roll out of tag 

rugby in the domestic game. 

Now in its 15th year, the IRFU Tag Rugby 

programme will be operated at provincial level 

in Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster for 

the first time. The move is designed to give noncontact 

rugby a greater footprint at grassroots 

level in 2021 and beyond while strengthening 

the relationship between provinces and clubs in 

the running of participation programmes. The 

IRFU will continue to drive the programme with 

training, education and strategic support. 

Tag Rugby matches are set to be permitted 

again in the Republic of Ireland on June 7, under 

the easing of current government restrictions. 

Further announcements will be made at 

provincial level in the coming weeks with 

exciting opportunities for clubs to get involved 

and for players to get back on tag rugby pitches. 

Rugby clubs around the province got back 

in action this week with the announcement 

that outdoor training for adults in pods of a 

maximum of 15 people could return, including 

contact training. Outdoor contact training for 

those under the age of 18 in pods of a maximum 

of 15 people has also returned. 

CONTACT TRAINING RETURNS 

As of last Monday, training can be contact, 

non-contact or a blend of both. This is strictly 

on an opt-in basis and should be based on the 

feedback of each individual playing group. 

Please note, all clubs and schools who wish to 

play structured contact rugby must undergo a 

minimum of four weeks of contact readiness 

training. 

Commercial activities operated by clubs 

including bar and cafe facilities are subject to 

relevant sector guidelines. 

The Kerry Development Squad 

in training 


AGE-GRADE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME RESUMES 

With the easing of Covid restrictions and the 

resumption of underage non-contact sport, 

the Rugby Development Department recommenced 

the age-grade player development 

programme, inviting identified players from 

clubs and schools into county training centres. 

In total, 12 centres are running across the six 

counties in Munster. Speaking about the return, 

Coach and Player Development Manager Keith 

Murphy said: 

“We are delighted to resume our age-grade 

player development programme. We have 

invited back the 2003-2005 born players who 

were with us last summer. Having spent the last 

four months doing weekly Zoom meetings and 

Individual Conditioning & Skills Programmes at 

home, it is great for the players and coaches to 

get back on the pitch.” 

The player development programme is 

designed to support players by focussing on 

their technical, tactical and physical capacities 

and adding to their holistic rugby experience. 

The Munster age-grade player development 

pathway commences with U16 players coming 

from clubs and schools throughout the province 

and delivers programmes at U17 clubs and 

schools, U18 clubs and schools, culminating 

with an U19 combined squad. 

The current programme, which will run across 

a six-week period, is based out of 12 venues 

throughout the province. The extra venues, 

as Murphy explains, is to ensure that a safe 

environment is provided to all under the current 

government guidelines. 

The Rugby Development Department are 

currently supporting clubs and schools with 

their #ReadyForRugby programmes. If you are 

looking for support, please feel free to contact 

your designated Rugby Development Officer 

or coach and Player Development Officer. 

Resources to assist coaches can be accessed 

through our coaching site HERE 

Sunday’s Well RFC recently announced that 

former Munster and Ireland international 

Denis Hurley has been appointed as the 

club’s new senior head coach. 

HURLEY TO LEAD THE WELL 

Denis made his final Munster appearance 

away to Stade Francais in January 2016 

and amassed 166 caps where he helped the 

province to a Heineken Cup title in 2008, 

PRO12 titles in 2009 and 2011, and a famous 

win over Australia at Thomond Park in 2010. 


31

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35

THE PRIDE OF MUNSTER 

Munster’s Tadhg Beirne is set to go on his first Lions tour this summer alongside his Munster and 

Ireland teammate Conor Murray, who will tour for the third time with the Lions. 

Beirne has enjoyed a superb season for his province and country, picking up three Player of the 

Match awards in ten appearances for Munster and capping off an impressive Six Nations campaign 

by being nominated for Player of the Tournament. He won two Player of the Match awards and 

started all five of Ireland’s games, scoring two tries in the process. 

Conor Murray has been in exceptional form this season, showing his class again in recent weeks 

with three tries in his last two appearances for Munster. 

The 32-year-old Limerick man is just one match away from his 150th appearance for Munster and 

one match away from his 90th cap for Ireland. He has played 12 times for the Lions, scoring three 

tries. He was the starting scrumhalf for all three test matches in the last tour. 

We caught up with Tadhg and Conor shortly after they were announced in Warren Gatland’s squad… 

TADHG BEIRNE 

“I found out when everybody else found out, I 

watched it with Harriet. I remember from last time 

watching it they did it alphabetically but when they 

said they are doing backs first, I was like, oh I’m 

going to have to wait now, and then when they did 

the forwards, I was first out, so it was nice to get 

announced early in the forwards group, that’s for 

sure. I called my Mum, she was on Facetime, well 

she was with my sister and they were on Facetime 

to both of my sisters over in Australia watching it. 

So I rang them, there was a lot of excitement there 

and then I rang my Dad straight after. 

“It is something you just kind of watch as you are 

growing up as a kid and it’s the biggest honour you 

could get as a rugby player after playing for your 

country. So I’m massively proud and as I’ve said 

I’m still a bit in shock you know. I don’t think that 

this time last year I would have been anywhere 

close to it if they were selecting it, so timing is 

everything and I’m delighted to be involved that’s 

for sure. 

“It wasn’t really on my mind too much at the start 

because I was coming back from injury and my 

main thing at the start of the season was to just 

try get back into the Irish set-up. Then through 

the Autumn, I probably wasn’t being selected as 

first choice so going into the Six Nations it was 

more to just be in the squad and try to get in a 

few appearances. But obviously it went different 

to that and I managed to start all the games. That’s 

what probably put me in this position obviously 

alongside playing well for Munster. I wouldn’t 

have gotten back into that Irish squad if it wasn’t 

for that, so I’ve be pretty lucky in terms of being 

able to put in decent performances in big games 

and that’s probably why I’ve have the privilege of 

being selected for the Lions. 

“I don’t think I had ever planned on achieving this 

much to be honest. It was just at a certain point it 

was just to become a professional rugby player - 

make it my occupation and I was lucky to be able 

to do that. But to achieve what I have achieved in 

the past few years - you know I’ll probably look 

back some day and I’ll have to pinch myself to 

believe it happened. So at the moment I’m just 

going to enjoy it and I can’t wait. For now, my 

focus will obviously be on Munster and hopefully 

we can finish with a bit of silverware towards the 

end of the year.” 


CONOR MURRAY 

“I’m very shocked. You obviously think you are 

in with a shout. I suppose the time leading up to 

it, doubt probably starts to creep in a little bit no 

matter how much you think you have a chance, 

there’s always that chance that it might go to plan 

so. My partner Joanna was in the house and the 

dog and everything. So I think my name came out 

quite early in the backs announcement. 

“I’m over the moon. It’s an incredible feeling. A 

bit of relief too because your family are on to you 

wondering if you’ve heard anything, and you're 

kind of sick of telling them that you don’t know, 

you literally don’t know, you find out along with 

everyone else. But yeah, it’s an unbelievable 

feeling, really, really special time and really 

grateful for the opportunity to go and represent 

that special club again. 

“It’s pretty special to be going to South Africa. We 

were there in 2016 with Ireland. Incredibly special 

country, rugby mad, world champions. You 

know the storyline, it’s going to build up nicely. 

Obviously Rassie and Jacques are involved still, 

and it will be nice to get reacquainted with them. 

I suppose from a personal point of view, having 

been on two tours, after the one in New 

Zealand in 2017, you’re trying to map it 

out, what age you will be and do you 

have a chance. There was always that 

outside chance. The body feels great, I feel fit, 

I feel in form, playing in a great team here with 

Munster. I think we are a really happy squad. We 

are a really content squad and I think that makes 

an awful difference to how you play on the pitch. 

You can see it in our performances this season. 

So I’m very grateful for that, to be involved in a 

club like this and that probably puts you in the 

shop window and puts you in with a chance. It’s 

incredible to cap it off. And I’m not going to lie, I 

really did want to be involved in the third one, it 

was a big carrot, and thankfully it went my way. 

“With the buzz of the game the day after the 

announcement, it was quite hard to refocus the 

mind and get ready for a game. I think that was 

the most challenging part. You have people 

texting you to stay fit, and ‘make sure you don’t 

get injured.’ That’s the worst thing to have in your 

head. You just have got to go out and play fully and 

commit to everything your involved in. We are still 

trying to win a cup. We aren’t far off at all. I suppose 

as an older Munster player, we have been saying 

that for years, ‘We aren’t far off, we aren’t far off’, 

but this squad is genuinely really, really close to 

achieving something. Especially with the youth 

injection, the coaching, the experienced players 

we do have. So there is 

a nice blend there to do 

something special. That’s 

the aim at the moment. 

We will park everything 

else that’s coming down 

the line in 

the summer 

and really 

go for this.” 

Conor Murray has been 

selected for the Lions 

for the third time 

Tadhg Beirne in action 

against Harlequins in 

December 


37

STAND UP 

AND FIGHT 


MUNSTER RUGBY 

SUMMER CAMPS 2021 

Registration is now open for the Bank of Ireland Munster Rugby 

Summer Camps, taking place in 22 venues throughout the province. 

Summer Camps will be offered on a modified 

basis and there will be changes to the rugby 

activities offered as necessary in accordance with 

Government and HSE guidelines at the time of the 

camp. 

Our key focus however remains to provide a safe 

and fun environment for children and coaches 

alike. 

VENUES & DATES 

Week 1: Mon 5-Fri 9 Jul: 

Bandon RFC, Ennis RFC, Garryowen 

FC 


Highfield RFC, Tralee RFC 


Castleisland RFC, Dungarvan RFC, 

Midleton RFC 


Clanwilliam FC, Cobh Pirates RFC, 

Killarney RFC 

Week 5: Mon 2-Fri 6 Aug: 

Bruff RFC, Kanturk RFC, Kinsale RFC 


Ballincollig RFC, Fermoy RFC, W.I.T. 

Carriganore 


Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa, Cork; 

Nenagh Ormond RFC 

Week 8: Mon 23 Aug- Fri 27 Aug: 

Muskerry RFC, Old Crescent RFC, 

Skibbereen RFC 

A daily Covid-19 Health Declaration form must be 

completed for all attendees. 

The camps will be managed and run by fully 

accredited IRFU Mini Rugby coaches. All Summer 

Camp staff have undertaken the National Garda 

Vetting process required to comply with the IRFU 

policy regarding recruitment and vetting to work 

in age-grade rugby. 

After booking your child’s place you will be 

emailed an Information Pack outlining all relevant 

details and procedures for attending your camp, 

including Covid-19 protocols. 

• Camp places are available for boys and girls 

from 6 years old to 12 years old. 

• Each camp takes place over one week (Monday 

through to Friday inclusive) between 9:30am 

and 1pm. 

• The cost is €80 per child. 

All bookings must be completed online. There 

will be no walk-in bookings this year. To book your 

preferred venue, you will be asked to register with 

Easy Payments Plus to ensure secure payment. 

Please click here for more details or click the 

button below. 

For any more information please 

contact camps@munsterrugby.ie 

Click here for Terms & Conditions 

• Each participant will receive an official 

Summer Camp Pack comprising an adidas 

Summer Camp T-Shirt, draw-string bag and 

mouth guard. 

MUNSTER v CONNACHT ULSTER | 07.05.21 | 14.05.21 | THOMOND | PARK PARK 

39


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41

42 WWW.MUNSTERRUGBY.IE 

1

SCANNELL 

RORY 

Age: 27 

Born: Cork 

Position: Centre 

Season appearances: 17 

Tries: 2 

Passes: 75 

Metres: 239 

Tackles: 75 

Try assists: 3 

Bagging two tries in Munster’s 38-10 win over Ulster last weekend, and setting up Andrew 

Conway’s try, it was a good night for Corkman Rory Scannell. He has made 17 appearances in 

red this season and is just six matches away from reaching the 150 appearances milestone. Rory 

has worked his way up through the ranks, in a career that started in the Munster sub-Academy 

before being promoted to the Academy ahead of the 2013/14 season. He made his Munster senior 

debut in August 2013 against London Irish. The former Young Player and Academy Player of the 

Year won his first Irish senior cap against USA on the 2017 Summer tour. He became the youngest 

Munster player to reach 100 Munster appearances at the age of just 25 when starting the March 

2019 clash away to Scarlets. 


43

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FIXTURES & RESULTS 2020/21 

Date Fixture Venue 

Sat 3 Oct Scarlets 27-30 Munster Parc y Scarlets 

Sat 10 Oct Munster 25-23 Edinburgh Rugby Thomond Park 

Mon 26 Oct Munster 38 - 27 Cardiff Blues Thomond Park 

Sun 1 Nov Dragons 16 - 28 Munster Rodney Parade 

Sun 15 Nov Munster 38-22 Ospreys Thomond Park 

Mon 23 Nov Glasgow Warriors 13-27 Munster Scotstoun Stadium 

Mon 30 Nov Munster 52-3 Zebre Rugby Club Thomond Park 

Sun 13 Dec Munster 21-7 Harlequins Thomond Park 

Sat 19 Dec Clermont Auvergne 31-39 Munster Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin 

Sat 02 Jan Ulster 15-10 Munster Kingspan Stadium 

Sat 09 Jan Connacht 10-16 Munster The Sportsground 

Sat 23 Jan Munster 10-13 Leinster Thomond Park 

Sat 30 Jan Benetton Rugby 16-18 Munster Stadio Comunale Monigo 

Sat 20 Feb Edinburgh 10-22 Munster Murrayfield Stadium 

Fri 26 Feb Cardiff Blues 11-20 Munster Cardiff Arms Park 

Fri 5 Mar Munster 20-17 Connacht Thomond Park 

Fri 12 Mar Munster 28-10 Scarlets Thomond Park 

Fri 19 Mar Munster 31-17 Benetton Rugby Thomond Park 

Sat 27 Mar Leinster 16-6 Munster The RDS 

Sat 3 Apr Munster 33-40 Stade Toulousain Thomond Park 

Sat 24 Apr Leinster 3-27 Munster The RDS 

Fri 7 May Munster 38-10 Ulster Thomond Park 

Fri 14 Mar | 6pm Munster v Connacht Thomond Park 

Fri 28 May | 7.35pm Munster v Cardiff Blues Thomond Park 

Fri 11 Jun | 6pm (Irish Time) Zebre v Munster Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi 

JJ Hanrahan is congratulated 

by his team mates after 

scoring a try against Ulster 

last weekend 


45


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Munster Rugby v Connacht Rugby Match Programme

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