Carbery one of ten ex-Ireland players in Munster team for Barbarians
Joey Carbery starts at standoff for Munster in a side brimming with both former and prospective Ireland internationals as they take on the Barbarians on Saturday in Thomond Park.
Ethan Coughlan, Edwin Edogbo, Shay McCarthy, Tony Butler, Mark Donnelly, Brian Gleeson, and Fionn Gibbons, all hailing from Munster Academy, have been selected for the squad as the URC champions look to claim victory over the famous Barbarians invitational team.
Giant lock Edogbo earns a starting spot in his first senior appearance of the 2023/24 season, while the 19-year-old Gleeson, who recently joined the Academy during the summer, is poised for his senior Munster debut.
Gleeson, who began his rugby journey at Thurles RFC and Rockwell College, distinguished himself by contributing significantly to the Grand Slam victory of the Ireland U20s last season.
The squad also welcomes Tom Ahern among the replacements, marking his inaugural appearance of the campaign.
Shane Daly assumes the full-back position, with McCarthy and Calvin Nash taking their positions on the wings.
Maintaining continuity from the previous week's triumph over Connacht, the half-back and centre partnerships remain unaltered. Scrum-half Coughlan and flyhalf Joey Carbery continue their partnership, while Rory Scannell and Antoine Frisch remain the midfield duo.
In the forward pack, Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, and Stephen Archer form the front row, with Edogbo and one-cap Ireland international Fineen Wycherley anchoring the engine room.
The side is completed by captain Jack O’Donoghue - also a former Ireland player - Jack Daly and Gavin Coombes - who narrowly missed out on a spot in Andy Farrell's Ireland squad for the Rugby World Cup.
Ireland internationals Niall Scannell and John Ryan provide backup for the front row alongside Mark Donnelly, while Tom Ahern and Ireland U20s star Brian Gleeson offer cover in the forward positions.
Neil Cronin, Tony Butler and Fionn Gibbons are poised to provide reinforcement for the backline.
Munster: Shane Daly; Shay McCarthy, Antoine Frisch, Rory Scannell, Calvin Nash; Joey Carbery, Ethan Coughlan; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Stephen Archer; Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue (C), Jack Daly, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Mark Donnelly, John Ryan, Tom Ahern, Brian Gleeson, Neil Cronin, Tony Butler, Fionn Gibbons.
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Some interesting stats that just proved what my first impression of NZ’s drive to speed up Rugby Union would amount to - fine margins here and there to cut a few seconds off the game and nothing else. To do more there would have to be wholesale changes to the game like doing away with scrums, lineouts and bringing back the ELV’s to have free kicks instead of penalties. Very little chance of it happening but, in the end, Ruby Union would be a 15-man version of Rugby League. There are reasons why Rugby Union is globally more popular that Rugby League and what NZ are also not considering is the unintended consequences of what they want to achieve. This will end up turning Rugby Union into a low value product that will not be acceptable to the paying public. If people really wanted a sped-up version of rugby, then why is Rugby Union globally way more popular than Rugby League? Rugby lovers all over the world are also not stupid and have seen through what NZ are trying to achieve here, selfishly to bring back their glory days of dominance over every other nation and compete with Rugby League that is dominant in Australasia. NH countries just don’t have the cattle, or the fantastic weather needed to play like NZ SR franchises do so good luck to whoever has to try and convince the NH to accept going back to the days of NZ dominance and agreeing to wreck the game in the process. I have serious doubts on the validity of the TV stats presented by GP. All they did was expand the broadcasting base by putting it on free to air, not even any indication of arresting the continued drop in viewership. Match day attendance goes hand in hand with broadcast ratings so if there was an increase in the one you should expect to see it with the other. However, the drop in match day attendance is very evident to the casual highlights package viewer. The only club who looks to be getting solid attendance is the Drua. I am calling it now that NZ’s quest to speed up the game will fail and so will the vote on the 20-minute red card.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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