Munster continue pre season with eleven players involved in Irish RWC preparation

Diarmuid Barron and Andrew Conway have also spent time with the Ireland squad in Dublin this month.

The Munster Rugby men’s squad are in week two of the pre-season training programme with just over six weeks until the opening pre-season game against Leinster at Musgrave Park on Friday, September 8 (6pm).

New signing Seán O’Brien joined the squad for the start of the pre-season training programme last week after making the move from Exeter Chiefs.

O’Brien is joined by Patrick Campbell and Cian Hurley, who graduated from the Munster Rugby Academy, with Hurley currently rehabbing an injury sustained last season.

John Ryan will begin the pre-season training programme early next month. Ryan lined out for the Chiefs in the 2022/23 Super Rugby Pacific season as they reached the final, losing to Crusaders in last month’s decider.

Munster’s fifth new signing, Alex Nankivell, will join the province on completion of his involvement with the Tasman Mako in the 2023 National Provincial Championship (NPC) in New Zealand. The NPC begins next month and will be played over August, September and October.

Tadhg Beirne, Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes, Jack Crowley, Keith Earls, Dave Kilcoyne, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash and Peter O’Mahony are all in Ireland’s summer training squad ahead of the World Cup.

Diarmuid Barron and Andrew Conway have also spent time with the Ireland squad in Dublin this month.

Ireland face Italy at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week in the first game of the Bank of Ireland Nations Series with their World Cup campaign beginning against Romania in Bordeaux on Saturday, September 9.

RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn are in Johannesburg with the Springboks for the Rugby Championship. Snyman has been named among the replacements for Saturday’s final game of the competition against Argentina at Ellis Park.