Tag Archives: munster rugby

The third round of the Heineken Champions Cup gets underway this week with all four provinces looking to further their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages.  The action gets underway at 1 pm on Saturday when Leinster travel to Franklin’s Gardens to face the Northampton Saints. At 3.15 pm Ulster host Harlequins at the Kingspan Stadium while Munster host …

Munster have announced that they will increase the capacity of Thomond Park for Saturday’s mouth-watering clash with Saracens (KO 5.30pm).  The southern province, due to high demand, will install pitchside seating at the northern and southern ends of the ground which will bring capacity up to 26,267 from 25,600. Munster are currently tied at the top of Pool 4 with …

Professional rugby is a results-driven business.  When the season gets up and running it’s often difficult for teams to allocate the time to experiment with different players or provide vital senior experience to the younger contingent. Especially right now, with the current condensed period of the season which sees four rounds of the European Cup take place over five weeks, …

468 minutes under his belt already this season and seven appearances which included a start against Racing 92 in the Champions Cup last weekend, Jack O’Donoghue is exactly where he wants to be right now.  The majority of the 2018/19 season was a complete write-off as O’Donoghue was recovering from damage to his Medial collateral ligament (MCL) and Anterior cruciate …

Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park. The world-class quality of Finn Russell proved a major thorn in Munster’s side at Thomond Park on Saturday night.  His sublime grubber and gather which resulted in the opening try of the game was followed in the second half by a scintillating ‘show-and-go’ as he cut through the line before offloading to the supporting …

Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park.  Draws are strange in rugby but when it comes to the European stage, it’s imperative that you win your home games to give yourself the best opportunity of getting through to the knockout stages.  In this case, it’s difficult to know how Munster are feeling. They looked down and out for long periods of …

Munster 21 Racing 92 21  Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park  Munster were staring down the barrel of a certain defeat at the end of this game until moments later, in a bizarre twist to the game, they looked like they were going to escape with a vital victory.  They finished somewhere in the middle as a last-gasp JJ Hanrahan …

Munster have issued an injury update ahead of their Heineken Champions Cup clash with Racing 92 at Thomond Park on Saturday (KO 5.30 pm).  The southern province enter this game off the back of a bonus-point 32-13 over the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium. The Parisian side also secured a bonus-point in their match with Saracens at the Paris La …

Munster scrum-half Alby Mathewson will make his final appearance for the southern province this weekend in the clash with Racing 92 at Thomond Park.  Former All Black Mathewson originally signed for Munster as short-term cover for Conor Murray who was recovering from a neck injury at the beginning of the 2018/19 season. Such was Mathewson’s quality on the pitch and …

Munster have added 20-year-old out-half Ben Healy in place of Alex Wootton to their Champions Cup squad ahead of Saturday’s Pool 4 opener against the Ospreys.  With first-choice ten Joey Carbery out injured and back-up J.J Hanrahan a doubt for this weekend, Munster are light of options with Tyler Bleyendaal the side’s only available out-half. Despite Johann van Graan suggesting …

Leinster and Munster have both issued injury updates ahead of the opening round of the Heineken Champions Cup this weekend.  Both provinces emerged victorious from the round of Interprovincial action in the PRO14. Leinster secured a bonus-point 42-11 victory over Connacht in Galway and the good news for the eastern province is that Robbie Henshaw returns to training this week …

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland was a little more optimistic than expected when he spoke to the media after seeing his side fall to a second defeat of the season.  The northern province led Munster by a point with a quarter of the game remaining in Thomond Park but they weren’t able to capitalise any further as Andrew Conway’s sublime …

Seán McMahon reporting from Thomond Park.  Munster are facing into a potential out-half crisis with European rugby on the horizon after JJ Hanrahan was removed after the half-hour mark in Munster’s 22-16 win over Ulster in Limerick on Saturday night.  Munster head coach Johann van Graan confirmed during his post-match press conference that Hanrahan was removed with what looks to …

Munster 22 Ulster 16 Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park  Halloween may be behind us but Munster produced a real fright for their supporters as they almost suffered an unlikely defeat at home. With a 15-6 lead at halftime, many expected Munster to push on but some poor discipline allowed Ulster a way back into the game through the boot …

Munster will have to plan for some crucial fixtures without the services of their star out-half Joey Carbery.  Carbery is currently sidelined with an ankle injury which he originally picked up in the Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Italy at the Aviva Stadium back in August. The 24-year-old missed the remainder of the preparatory fixtures against Wales and England …

Munster have confirmed that they are in advanced discussions with Springboks duo Damian de Allende and RG Snyman over a potential move to the southern province. De Allende and Snyman are currently celebrating their World Cup victory after they overcame England in the final on Sunday. It was widely reported on Monday that Munster have signed the duo on two-year …

According to reports this evening, Munster are set to sign two World Cup-winning Springboks ahead of the 2020/21 season.  The Irish Times report that Munster have secured the signature of powerful centre Damian de Allende. The 27-year-old scored a crucial try in the Boks’ semi-final victory over Wales before putting in a solid defensive shift against England in the final. …

Munster have announced that their defence coach JP Ferreira has signed a contract extension which will keep him in Limerick until June 2022.  Ferreira arrived at Munster in December 2017 as he replaced Jacques Nienaber who departed for the Springboks alongside Rassie Erasmus. Ferreira has had a strong impact in his time with the southern province with Munster boasting the …