Craig Casey awarded Munster’s Young Player of the Year

Scrum half Craig Casey has been named Munster’s Young Player of the Year for his overall performance and form throughout the 2020/21 season. Casey was undoubtedly a stand out performer throughout Munster’s campaign this season featuring in 19 of Munster’s 25 fixtures, with 12 appearances as a starter.

The Limerick native scored 4 tries and received 3 player of the match awards throughout the season, his high tempo style of play along with his tactical game management from the scrum-half position made him a key player in many successful Munster fixtures.

Casey made his senior Munster debut in 2019 against Connacht in round 21 of the Pro14, a fixture Munster won 27 points to 14. Casey made his Champions Cup debut for the province in their 39–22 defeat away to french side Racing 92 in round 5 of the Champions Cup in January of 2020. Casey progressed to a full contract ahead of the 2020–21 season

Casey was sidelined in 2018 due to injury which resulted in him missing out on an Irish U20’s call up. Yet, Casey overcame his injury and was named vice-captain in the Irish U20’s squad for the 2019 Six Nations U20’s Championship, making 3 appearances and scored two tries during the tournament. This valiant effort contributed to Ireland’s grand slam victory in the tournament for the first time since 2007. He was then retained as vice-captain in the under-20s squad for the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship when it was confirmed in May of 2019.

A product of Shannon RFC and Ardscoil Rís, Casey got the attention of Irish head coach Andy Farrell when he was named in the squad for the 2021 Six Nations Championship, going on to make his debut off the bench in Irelands 48 – 10 victory over Italy.

Casey’s international career is unsurprisingly due to continue, as he’s been named in Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad for the upcoming Vodafone Summer Series. The scrum-half will be eager to leave his mark against the USA and Japan when they travel to the Aviva Stadium for two test matches in July.

Casey can now add his Munster’s Young Player of the Year award to his Academy Player of the Year award, which he also won in 2019.