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Another Munster stalwart to retire after 14 years with home province
By Ciarán Kennedy
Munster are set to lose another one-club man at the end of the season with Tommy O'Donnell announcing his plans to retire from rugby. O'Donnell, 33, made his Munster debut in 2007 and has represented the province on 186 occasions.
Fellow one-club man Billy Holland is also retiring at the end of the season, along with backrow CJ Stander.
O'Donnell came through the Munster academy and was Munster's player of the year in 2013. He also represented Ireland across two Six Nations-winning campaigns, and won 13 caps in total.
The flanker suffered a number of injury setbacks throughout his career, notably being ruled out of contention for the 2015 Rugby World Cup due to a dislocated hip.
"It has been the greatest honour and privilege to represent Munster Rugby for the past 14 seasons," O'Donnell said.
"I feel it is the right time for me and my family to step away from rugby and this season will be my last.
"I’m proud to know that I will retire as a one-club man. I am confident and content in my decision, having chased the dream from the age of 16 through the youths, underage and academy systems to represent Munster and Ireland.
"While it is not the end just yet and I’m very much looking forward to contributing to the team in the final part of the season and new competition ahead, I felt the time was right to make my intentions to retire known.
"My family and I are looking forward to the new chapter ahead. My passion and belief in Munster Rugby will always remain unwavering.
"I look forward to looking on as a supporter and bringing my boys to experience the magic of a packed Thomond Park in the years to come."
Munster head coach Johann van Graan said: "Tommy has been a brilliant player for Munster Rugby and has made a massive contribution to this club, always giving 100% in every situation.
"A fantastic man on and off the field, he is a real leader and a hugely positive influence on the group.
"To play at such a high level for 14 seasons is a testament to his quality, his determination and his resilience.
"A one-club man, I can only thank Tommy for everything he has done for Munster but he still has a part to play for the remainder of the season."
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Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
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