Munster Rugby v Zebre Match Programme

MUNSTER 

V ZEBRE PARMA 

MUSGRAVE PARK | 01-10-22 

MUNSTER V ZEBRE PARMA | 01.10.22 | MUSGRAVE PARK 

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2 WWW.MUNSTERRUGBY.IE

PRESIDENT'S WELCOME 

Musgrave Park and Thomond Park games where 

we can once again get behind our players and 

loudly cheer them on to success. 

I wish to pay tribute to Munster Rugby 

management and players, and to all Munster clubs, 

for keeping the game alive both professionally and 

domestically, and for successfully bringing us 

through the difficult Covid period. 

On behalf of Munster Rugby, I am delighted to 

welcome you all to Musgrave Park for our first home 

game of the BKT United Rugby Championship this 

season. I also extend a warm welcome to the Zebre 

Parma management, players, and supporters. With 

both teams in search of their first win, it should be a 

very competitive fixture. 

I am sure you will join with me in wishing Graham 

Rowntree, and our coaches and players, our best 

wishes for success in this evening’s game and in 

the games ahead this season. 

Thankfully, we have put Covid behind us and we 

look forward to our supporters returning to packed 

This weekend also sees the return of the men’s 

Energia All Ireland League and we wish all Munster 

clubs involved the best of luck for the season 

ahead. 

We also send our best wishes to the Emerging 

Ireland squad, and particularly to the Munster 

players in the squad, on their short tour in South 

Africa. 

Our thanks go to our main sponsor Bank of Ireland, 

our kit suppliers Adidas, and all of our Munster 

Rugby sponsors and partners, for their continued 

support. 

Ger McNamara 

President, Munster Branch IRFU 

TICKETS NOW ON SALE 

Sat 15 October – Munster v Vodacom Bulls 

Thomond Park, 19:35. Buy tickets here 

Sat 29 October – Munster v Ulster 


Sat 26 November – Munster v Connacht 


Mon 26 December – Munster v Leinster 


President: Ger McNamara | Vice President: Michael Carroll | Junior Vice President: Brendan Foley 

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

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Ian Flanagan | Head Coach: Graham Rowntree | Team Manager: Niall O’Donovan 


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ROUND 3 PREVIEW & STATS 

MATCH FACTS 

• Munster have lost just once in their last 

sixteen matches at Musgrave Park: 16-28 to 

Edinburgh in November 2019. 

• Munster have won all eighteen previous 

fixtures they have played against Zebre, 

including the only one at Musgrave Park 

36-8 in February 2014. 

• Zebre have lost their last five BKT URC 

matches but in the last two have secured 

bonus points in each, running Leinster close 

on a 29-33 scoreline in Round 1 and going 

down 37-42 in Round 2 to Cell C Sharks. 

• Zebre have not won away from home in the 

Championship since beating Benetton in 

Treviso on 2 January 2021. 

• The Italians most recent victory over an 

Irish province was 19-11 against Connacht 

in Galway in February 2018. 

|TABLE 

COMPARISON MUNSTER RUGBY ZEBRE PARMA 

Last 3 URC results 3 Jun - Ulster (A) L 17-36 

17 Sep - Cardiff Rugby (A) L 13-20 

25 Sep - Dragons (A) L 17-23 

21 May - Connacht (A) L 20-22 

17 Sep - Leinster (H) L 29-33 

23 Sep - Sharks (H) L 37-42 

URC 2022/23 15th - W0 D0 L2 - 2pts 13th - W0 D0 L2 - 4pts 

Top try scorer 

1 - Jack O'Sullivan, Stephen Archer, 

Ben Healy 

2 - Simone Gesi 

Top points scorer 18 - Ben Healy 16 - Tiff Eden 

HEAD TO HEAD 

Munster wins 

Zebre wins 

18 0 0 

Draws 


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NEWSROUND 

PLAYER CONTRACT EXTENSIONS CONFIRMED 

Munster Rugby and the IRFU have confirm 

ed the first player contract extensions of 

the season with five members of the senior 

squad putting pen to paper. 

Craig Casey has signed a three-year contract 

while Shane Daly, Mike Haley and Josh 

Wycherley have signed two-year contract 

extensions. Alex Kendellen who advanced to 

the senior ranks at the beginning of the season 

on a new two-year deal, has extended his 

contract further to remain with the province 

until at least July 2025. 

Scrum-half Casey has made 49 appearances 

for the province since his debut against 

Connacht in 2019. The 23-year-old Shannon 

man and former Ardscoil Rís pupil won 

Academy Player of the Year in 2019 and was 

also vice-captain of the Grand Slam-winning 

Ireland U20s that year. He was named Young 

Player of the Year in 2021 and has made 38 

appearances over the past two seasons 

along with earning five Ireland caps. 

Mike Haley joined Munster from Sale 

Sharks in 2018 and has already amassed 80 

appearances for the province, starting at fullback 

on each occasion and scoring 16 tries. 

The Preston native played more minutes than 

any other Munster player in the 2018/19 and 

2020/21 campaigns and made his Ireland 

debut against Italy in August 2019. 28-yearold 

Haley made his Munster debut against 

Cheetahs in 2018 and has been a near everpresent 

at full-back since. 

A product of the Greencore Munster Rugby 

Academy, versatile back Shane Daly joined 

the senior squad in 2019. He was named 

Young Player of the Year in 2020 with the 

Cork Constitution clubman and former PBC 

student earning two Ireland caps over the 

past two years. To date, the 25-year-old has 

scored eight tries in 49 Munster appearances 

and started at full-back for Emerging 

Ireland against the Griquas in Bloemfontein 

yesterday. 

Josh Wycherley enjoyed a standout season 

last year making 19 appearances with an 

overall 29 appearances in red to date. The 

23-year-old prop made his debut against 

Cardiff Blues in Thomond Park in October 

2020 with his first Champions Cup start 

singled out for high praise when Munster 

defeated Clermont Auvergne in December 

2020. His grassroots stem from Bantry Bay 

RFC and he is a former pupil of Cistercian 

College, Roscrea and linked up with Young 

Munster RFC on his move to Limerick. A 

former Ireland U20s Six Nations Grand Slam 

winner, Wycherley also played for Emerging 

Ireland yesterday. 

21-year-old Alex Kendellen was initially named 

in the Emerging Ireland squad for the South 

Africa tour but did not travel as he continues 

to follow return to play protocols. A product 

of PBC and UCC the back-row forward was 

deservedly named the Academy Player of 

the Year in June after a fantastic season that 

saw him line out in 20 of Munster’s 26 games. 

Kendellen made his debut against Scarlets in 

March 2021 and has made 22 appearances 

for the province. He captained the Ireland 

U20s for the 2021 Six Nations, scoring six 

tries in five appearances. 

Alex Kendellen 

Craig Casey 


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MUNSTER MASCOTS 

JAMIE PEREZ 

Age: 9 

School: Union Hall National School, Co. Cork 

Hobbies: Rugby with Skibbereen RFC, drawing, 

reading, kickboxing, playing the banjo 

Favourite players: Gavin Coombes, Liam Coombes, 

Joey Carbery and Keith Earls 

JJ COLBERT 

Age: 10 

School: St. John the Baptist, Midleton, Co. Cork 

Hobbies: Rugby, soccer, basketball, watching 

Munster, water sports 

Favourite player: Peter O’Mahony 

ENTERTAINMENT 

We welcome Cork soprano Emma Nash who will perform Stand Up and Fight before the match, alongside 

the MRSC Choir. At half-time, please give a warm welcome to Abbeyfeale RFC and Listowel RFC. 

mrbinman.com 061-351127 

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MUNSTER RUGBY 

MUNSTER RUGBY 

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GRAHAM ROWNTREE 

THE 

INSIDE 

TRACK 

On last weekend’s defeat in Wales… 

“Not good enough. We are not going to shy 

away from that. I certainly didn't and the players 

haven't. We have addressed it. We had a long 

journey home, a quick few hours at home with 

the family Monday and we were back in Tuesday 

fixing it, looking at it, being honest - a very honest 

review - and we move forward. I have absolute 

belief in the body of work we have done through 

this summer. We have worked exceptionally 

hard, trained well. I have been around a bit, and 

I have seen a lot of preseasons, a lot of training 

environments and I have absolute belief in what 

we have done, but it has got to come out in the 

game. As I keep saying, it is stuff that we can 

control, and we have to be better, so we have 

addressed that this week.” 

On what he expects from Zebre… 

“They are coming over full of confidence. Crikey 

they are playing quick! We certainly cannot 

play too loosely against them, but it is another 

chance for us to right our wrongs, isn't it. We 

have had a disappointing start to the season I'm 

not going to shy away from that.” 

JACK O’SULLIVAN 

On moving on from last weekend’s loss… 

“To be fair to Graham he has managed to stay 

pretty positive up to now. We haven't had a 

great start. He was frustrated after the game, 

and he let us know that. He can't sugarcoat it 

either. The players know it wasn't good enough. 

We just need a reaction this weekend. We 

trained really hard this week. That’s the joy of 

it too, you have games every week, so we have 

a chance now to make it right this weekend. I 

think the players have to take all the ownership 

to be honest. The game plan was good, training 

was good, felt fresh going into the game. As 

Graham discussed it was just individual errors, 

trying to force things, throwing that extra-long 

pass when short passes will do. The players 

again…we know it wasn't good enough and we 

need a reaction now this weekend.” 

On being back in Musgrave Park… 

“Being from Cork myself I always love playing 

in Musgrave Park. I like the 4G pitch as well. 

I like to play fast so I feel that suits me, but it 

will suit Zebre too. They have had two narrow 

losses the last few games and got four losing 

bonus points because they got four tries in both 

games. We know exactly what they are going to 

bring. They are going to throw around the ball, 

they are going to 

play ‘sexy rugby’ 

as they say. We 

know what they 

are going to bring, 

we know what we 

are going to bring 

so just looking 

forward to it now.” 


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MUNSTER RUGBY 

STARTING XV 

Dave Kilcoyne NIall Scannell Keynan Knox 

Fineen 

Tadhg Beirne 

Wycherley 

Jack 

O'Donoghue 

Peter 

O'Mahony (C) 

Jack 

O'Sullivan 

Craig Casey 

Ben Healy 

Patrick Campbell 

Dan Goggin 

Malakai Fekitoa 

Conor Phillips 

Mike Haley 

#MUNvZEB 

JOIN THE CONVERSATION 

Replacements 

16. Scott Buckley 17. Jeremy Loughman 18. Stephen Archer 19. Edwin Edogbo 

20. Ruadhan Quinn 21. Conor Murray 22. Joey Carbery 23. Rory Scannell 


ZEBRE PARMA 

STARTING XV 

Juan Pitinari 

Giampietro 

Ribaldi 

Ion Neculai 

Gabriele 

Venditti 

Leonard 

Krumov 

Davide Ruggeri 

MJ Pelser 

Taina 

Fox-Matamua 

Alessandro 

Fusco 

Tiff Eden 

Jacopo Trulla 

Enrico 

Lucchin (C) 

Erich Cronjé 

Pierre Bruno 

Richard Kriel 

MATCH OFFICIALS 

Referee: Adriaan Jacobs (SARU) 

AR1: Peter Martin (IRFU) 

AR2: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU) 

TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU) 

Replacements 

16. Luca Bigi 17. Luca Rizzoli 18. Matteo Nocera 19. Joshua Furno 20. Iacopo Bianchi 

21. Nicolò Casilio 22. Franco Smith Jr 23. Lorenzo Pani 


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RUGBY DEVELOPMENT NEWS 

Munster Rugby recorded strong numbers across all of its summer participation programmes with 

over 2000 children taking part in different camps throughout the province. 

The Bank of Ireland Munster Rugby Summer 

Camps proved to be a huge hit once again as 

1700 children aged between 6-12 years old took 

part in a week-long camp in one of 22 different 

venues throughout Munster. 

At the end of June, two Munster Rugby Excellence 

Camps took place in Cork and Limerick with 110 

players aged 13-16 taking part. 

The Boys’ Munster Rugby School of Excellence 

also returned to Rockwell College, the weeklong 

camp, which had both residential and 

non-residential options, saw 110 players attend 

across the week. 

In Bandon Grammar School, the inaugural Girls’ 

Munster Rugby School of Excellence took place 

which saw 70 girls from throughout the province 

develop their rugby skills and understanding 

through a game sense and technical excellence 

approach across three days. 

The Excellence Camps and the Schools 

of Excellence provided a premium rugby 

experience and offered a week-long structured 

rugby development programme which included 

core skill development, game understanding, 

position-specific training, appropriate strength 

and conditioning training and teamwork. 

In August, Munster Rugby held an Inclusion 

Camp at Ballincollig RFC. The camp was open to 

children of all abilities aged 6-12 and it focused 

on adapting rugby to meet the needs of camp 

attendees to maximise their enjoyment. 

15 children participated in the Inclusion Camp. 

Click on the links below to view the videos 

recapping the different programmes which 

were held throughout the summer. 

Bank of Ireland Munster Rugby Summer Camps 

Munster Rugby Excellence Camps 

Munster Rugby Boys’ School of Excellence 

Munster Rugby Girls’ School of Excellence 

Munster Rugby Inclusion Camp 

#MunsterStartsHere 


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MUNSTER RISING 

FOR UNRIVALLED RUGBY COVERAGE 

Subscribe for as little as €5 per month 

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MUNSTER RUGBY 


Stand up 

And fight 

For the Brave 

THE FABRIC OF MUNSTER 

AN INTERVIEW WITH KIT DESIGNER 

Roger Hahn 

A rugby kit is more than just a uniform. It’s a badge of 

honour. Something that tells a story. But how do these 

kits become reality? We spoke to Roger Hahn, Senior 

Designer at adidas, and the man behind our new look. 

How did you begin working with adidas? 

In 2004, I was contacted by a recruiter for a Team Sport design role. 

They didn’t tell me the name of the company, so I wasn’t interested at 

first. A few months later, he came back to me with a new role. I ended 

up working for the Sport Specific design team at adidas as an apparel 

and graphic designer. Working across Running, Outdoor, Swimwear, 

Tennis, and Training. 

What drew you to this project? 

I’d been working on rugby apparel for a few New Zealand clubs, 

which I enjoyed a lot. I found that athletes and fans were so humble 

and really appreciated our work. I couldn’t wait for a new challenge. 

Munster came with an inspiring brief. They seemed open to some 

modern graphic direction too, which fit with our plans for the season. 

What was your inspiration for the design? 

Ideas and stories were everywhere, from the deep red colour to the 

ancient mystic legends and Celtic knots. We were able to combine 

those with well-known symbols such as the stag and the crowns. 

Interpreting these elements with modern digital filters. 

How do you keep designs fresh year on year? 

We do a lot of research and workshops. Exploring many different 

ideas and techniques in a playful way. Literally hundreds of ideas 

end up in the bin. But, naturally, we always end up finding something 

exciting and new. 

Which design excited you the most? 

The Munster Euro kit was the most exciting for sure. But now we’re 

working on new seasons already, and it’s even more exciting. 

How does it feel to see your designs worn by thousands of fans? 

It’s hard to describe, but feels really good. Much different to other 

sports I was working on. Knowing that designs might polarise, not 

everyone will like them, I still feel so much appreciation from the fans 

and the athletes. 


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MRSC NEWS 

SEASON 2022/23 KICKS OFF 

Here we go again! Welcome to the first home 

game of the 2022/23 season! The MRSC 

are looking forward to welcoming back our 

supporters to both Musgrave and Thomond 

Park for the coming season. We are all eagerly 

anticipating the progression of our young 

players and extend a warm welcome to our 

new players and coaching team. 

MRSC MEMBERSHIP SEASON PACKS 

This year we are delighted to be handing 

out to full members our exclusive MRSC 

packs, with the expert help of our Munster 

Rugby players, prior to the start of our first 

home games. We are thrilled to be able to 

showcase our new logo with this exclusive 

gift pack. If you missed us today, make 

sure to call over to us on the 15 October at 

Thomond Park, when we take on the Bulls. 

COMPETITIONS HAVE STARTED! 

To be in with a chance to get your hands on 

some fantastic prizes throughout the season, 

make sure that you have opted “in” to our 

weekly Red Letter, where competitions will 

be announced throughout the season. The 

first competition of the season kicked off on 

the 23 of September with a multiple-choice 

question: 

Who is taller: RJ Synman, Tom Ahern or 

they are both the same height! 

Answer: At 2.06m (6ft 9in), they are, of 

course, the same height! 

MRSC AGM 

The MRSC AGM was held earlier today 

in the Dolphin RFC clubhouse. Thanks 

to everyone that proposed motions and 

put themselves forward for Committee 

selection. The Committee was elected per 

the MRSC constitution and will be published 

on the MRSC website in the coming weeks. 

We look forward to continuing to work on 

your behalf for the coming season. 

#SUAF 

Don’t forget to follow the MRSC Supporters 

Club on our social media platforms, 

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all the 

updated news, match and ticket information. 

OSCAR IS RETURNING SOON! 

The MRSC AGM was held earlier today 

in the Dolphin RFC clubhouse. Thanks to 

everyone that proposed motions and 

put themselves forward for Committee 

selection. The Committee was elected 

per the MRSC constitution and will be 

published on the MRSC website in the 

coming weeks. We look forward to 

continuing to work on your behalf for the 

coming season. Rumour has it, that after 

a lengthy absence, our mascot, Oscar, 

is making a triumphant return to Thomond 

Park on the 15 Oct! Make sure to get your 

photo with him as he tours the grounds 

before and during the matches! 


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MUNSTER RUGBY 


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MUNSTER MACHINE 

ON THE ROAD 

BUMBLEance Children’s Ambulance and Munster Rugby teamed up last season to fundraise 

for the uniquely designed Munster Rugby and BUMBLEance branded vehicle, known as the 

#MUNSTERMACHINE. 

The Munster Machine can now be seen all 

over the province, providing vital transport for 

children most in need. 

BUMBLEance is the world’s first fully interactive, 

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To show your support for BUMBLEance you can 

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Thank you to all of our supporters for getting 

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Munster Rugby v Zebre Match Programme

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