Munster Rugby Season In Stats

06/24/2024 11:02 AM

Take a look at the stats from the 2023/24 season which saw the Munster’s Women’s squad reach the Interpro final and the men’s squad reach the URC semi-final and the knockout stages of the Champions Cup.

The first URC fixture of the 2024/25 season will be an Interpro against Connacht on Saturday 21st September, with pre-season friendlies announced in the coming weeks. The Munster Women’s squad will also kick off their Interprovincial Championship campaign in August.

Scroll down to see the vital stats from both sides.

Munster Women

Munster secured second place in the Interprovincial Championship in August and September, including two bonus point wins, but losing out to Leinster in the final. Back-row Dorothy Wall captained the side for all four matches.

Niamh Briggs' side started well with back-to-back bonus point victories away in Armagh v Ulster, and at Virgin Media Park against Connacht. This led them to secure a place in the final before the final round. Leinster proved to be a tough opposition, as the Munster Women lost away in Round 3, and at Virgin Media Park in the final.

The campaign started with a 14–41 win v Ulster, with Stephanie Carroll scoring a hat-trick and was awarded Vodafone Player of the Match. Ellen Boylan, Jane Clohessy, Abbie Salter-Townsend, and Brianna Heylmann all got their first appearances for the province with Gillian Coombes and Ciara Farrell getting their first starts.

The second game at Virgin Media Park saw Munster beat Connacht 46-7 in another bonus-point victory, awarding them a top of the table spot and guaranteeing them a place in the final. Beth Buttimer made her first appearance having turned 18 the week of the match.

In Round 3, Munster lost away at Donnybrook to a strong Leinster side, with Aoibhe Flynn making her Munster debut. Leinster returned a week later to Virgin Media Park where they beat Munster 14-33.

Stephanie Caroll and Deirbhile Nic a Bháird were awarded Player of the Match for standout performances against Ulster and Connacht respectively.

The Munster Women also took on the Barbarians in a unique double-header in September at Thomond Park, with Fiona Reidy playing her final game for Munster. Included in the Barbarians Women’s Squad were former Munster players Ciara Griffin and Kathryn Buggy.

The 13 try scorers were: Stephanie Caroll (3), Clodagh O'Halloran, Roisin Ormond, Ellen Boylan, Brianna Heylmann, Maeve Óg O'Leary (2), Dorothy Wall (2), Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (3), Kate Flannery, Alana McInerney, Aoife Doyle, Fiona Reidy and Chloe Pearse.

Munster Men

Munster won 15 out of 25 games in 2023/24 as Graham Rowntree's side finished top of the URC table heading into the knock-out stages. They beat Ospreys in the quarter-final, but lost out to Glasgow Warriors in the semi-final at Thomond Park.

Munster won a historic victory away in Toulon in the third round of this year's Champions Cup, getting through to the knock-out stages, only to be defeated by Northampton Saints in the Round of 16.

Since the turn of the year Munster lost just four of the fifteen games (eight away, seven home), including a successful tour to South Africa, beating both the Lions and Bulls.

48 players were involved in competitive matchday squads including 11 Academy players, the latter of which bolstered the Munster squad through an injury crisis mid-season.

Attack & Defence

Munster scored 623 points and 83 tries in 25 games, averaging 24 points per game and 3.3 tries.

Munster conceded 465 points and 49 tries – conceding an average score of 18 points per game and 1.9 tries.

Debuts

There have been debuts for four senior players this season and five from the Academy.

The full list of debutants includes: Alex Nankivell, Seán O'Brien, Oli Jager, Eoghan Clarke, Fionn Gibbons, Brian Gleeson, Shay McCarthy, Kieran Ryan and Ben O'Connor.

There have also been Champions Cup debuts for Shay McCarthy, Alex Nankivell, Ben O'Connor, Oli Jager and Brian Gleeson.

Points & Appearances

Jack Crowley was the top points scorer with 147 points (115 URC & 32 Champions Cup).

Tom Ahern was the top try-scorer with Ahern with 8 in 23 appearances, playing every game before the URC knock-out stages.

This season Gavin Coombes and Alex Kendellen both played in every URC and Champions Cup game, with Shane Daly making 24 starts in 24 appearances, earning him the URC 'Iron Man' award.

Jeremy Loughman and Antoine Frisch both made 22 appearances.

Awards & Landmarks

Tom Ahern, Tadhg Beirne (2), Joey Carbery, Gavin Coombes, Jack Crowley (6), Mike Haley, Calvin Nash (2) and Seán O'Brien were Munster's Player of the Match winners in both the URC and Champions Cup.

Several Munster players were nominated for awards at the Rugby Player Ireland Awards including Craig Casey for Try of the Year, and Tom Ahern and Jack Crowley for Young Player of the Year. Craig Casey's try against Leinster at the Aviva went on to win.

Following his retirement, Keith Earls was honoured with the Contribution to Irish Society award.

Shane Daly won the URC 'Iron Man' award, given to the player who has racked up the most minutes in the regular season. He played 1430 minutes and 18 games and was the only Irish provincial player to start all 18 rounds of the URC.

Jack Crowley was also named among the winners, winning the 'Next Gen' Player award, which recognises young up-and-coming talent.

Alex Nankivell, Jack Crowley and Tadhg Beirne were the three Munster players included in the URC Elite XV.

Head Coach Graham Rowntree was named BKT Coach of the Season, voted for by the league's head coaches.

Andrew Conway retired after the first game of the season against the Sharks on his 150th Munster appearance, scoring his 50th try for the province.

Fineen Wycherley received his 100th cap against Ulster, and Stephen Archer became the club's most capped player ever with 269 caps, as he ran out against Leinster.

Jack O'Donoghue reached his 200th cap this season against Edinburgh, becoming the youngest Munster player to reach that landmark.

This season’s Munster Rugby Awards will be announced at the end of the summer.

Internationals

17 Munster players have been on international duty this season for Ireland, playing in the World Cup and Six Nations.

Keith Earls and Peter O'Mahony both earned their 100th test caps during the Rugby World Cup, with O'Mahony captaining the side throughout the campaign. Tadhg Beirne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Dave Kilcoyne, Jeremy Loughman and Conor Murray also featured in the wider squad that reached the quarter final.

RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn also lined out for South Africa who went on to be crowned champions.

Seven Munster players were part of the squad that won the Six Nations campaign, including Jack Crowley, Calvin Nash, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, Oli Jager and Jeremy Loughman, with Tom Ahern part of the wider squad. It was Nash's first Six Nations, scoring a try on his first start against France. Tadhg Beirne earned his 50th Cap against Scotland.

Dorothy Wall and Enya Breen were both selected to represent Ireland in the Women's Six Nations, where the team went on to qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2025.

In the U20s Men's Six Nations, Sean Edogbo, Luke Murphy, Ben O'Connor, Danny Sheahan and captain Evan O'Connell all took part. O'Connell received the Player of the Match against both Scotland and Wales, and Ben O'Connor against Italy.

Attendances

Munster have played at home in three different venues this season – Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Thomond Park and Virgin Media Park.

In February, Munster beat the Crusaders in a memorable evening at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The home side took on the Super Rugby Champions in front of a sold-out, 40,885 strong crowd.

25,600 were in attendance at Thomond Park as Munster took on Leinster on St Stephen's Day.

Over 8000 fans watched the three fixtures held at Virgin Media Park in Cork; Dragons, Glasgow and Zebre.

Departing Players

Our thanks to Andrew Conway, Simon Zebo, RG Snyman, Joey Carbery, Antoine Frisch, Jack O'Sullivan, Chris Moore, Keynan Knox and Neil Cronin as they have completed their time at the province.

See videos of the departing players below with more to come in the following weeks.

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