Greencore Academy Update

Elite Player Development Manager Peter Malone on the happenings of the Greencore Munster Academy over the past month.

Academy Player Injury Update…

“John Madigan had his shoulder operated on two and a half weeks ago. This is a long term injury so we won’t put an exact time on it as of yet but it will be a matter of months before John returns to action.

“Ryan Foley is another who underwent surgery (cruciate ligament) and has begun rehab but again we’d expect the majority of the season to be gone for Ryan with his main focus to come back in excellent condition for the start of the next pre-season.

“David Johnston is following return to play protocols and we’re hopeful that he’ll play some rugby by the end of this week or next week at the latest – off the bench for about 10 or 15 minutes to reintroduce him to rugby as he’s been out for a long time.

“Brian Scott has also been on our long term injury list with a neck injury. We’re hopeful that he will return to contact training post-Christmas but as it’s the neck we’ll be extremely careful in reintroducing him. With that in mind it might be late January before he returns to competitive action.

“Niall Horan retuned from a previous concussion injury but unfortunately tore a ligament in his thumb while playing with Shannon and underwent surgery to have it repaired today (Monday). He will remain sidelined for two to three months.

“Rory Burke picked up an ankle injury while playing with Cork Con and will be assessed this week by a consultant after which we will plan the rest of his rehab.

“Diarmaid Dee is hoping to be back in the mix next week having just resumed contact training.

“Jack Cullen picked up a small ankle injury but will be back available for selection next week.”

Saturday’s Pool 3 B&I Cup win over Nottingham at Temple Hill (23-16)…
“It was very important for the lads to come back from behind and secure the win – you must win your home games in the B&I Cup. We started poorly but credit to the guys for addressing those issues on the field. Having the ability to correct your performance during a game is very important.

“There will be a review of what went wrong in the first half but hopefully they can improve on those things and put in a big performance against Worcester on Friday night. The challenge of a side like Worcester (second in the English Championship) will be very good for the development of our academy guys.”

Scrum Clinic with Greg Feek – IRFU National Scrum Coach…
“It was great for Greg to come give this clinic to all our Academy and underage front rows, second rows and back rows.

“We already have our 1 2 3 Club where we bring our front rows in every two weeks to do a scrummaging session, but with this clinic it was important we brought the whole pack together.

“Greg came down after his work with the national squad for the autumn internationals and spoke about the key areas that they are looking to develop as an international scrummaging unit and how that can filter down to what players need to focus on at U18s, U19s, U20s, etc.

“Conor Twomey is leading our scrum programme here in the Academy and doing a great job alongside Colm McMahon. Their guidance and the added benefit of clinics such as this greatly benefits the development of our players.”

Cookery Workshop with Greencore…
“Greencore are the Academy sponsors so it’s a very useful arrangement for us as they have a lot of knowledge and experience in the area of cooking and nutrition.

“They went into a lot of detail – how to prepare foods easily for players, slow cooking – very practical advice, all of which was under the supervision of Munster Performance Nutritionist Dr. Catherine Norton who already meets the players on a one and one basis to go through food diaries and discuss where players can improve their diet and eating habits.

“As a follow on from this players will soon be brought on shopping trips to make sure they buy the most appropriate food stuffs to complement their training.”

Mental Skills Workshops…
“Tadgh MacIntyre our senior Mental Skills Coach is now working with the academy lads also. Sessions will remain pretty light until after Christmas as right now we need to give the lads space to focus on their academy studies for Christmas exams. Once into January we’ll increase their mental skills workload focusing on areas such as resilience, goal setting and motivation.

“Tadgh is a man with a lot of experience and his involvement will be very beneficial for us.”

See academy representatives in action for Munster A against Worcester Warriors in Pool 3 of the British & Irish Cup this Friday night at the CIT Sports Stadium – KO 7:30pm.

Tickets can be purchased online here while entry is free for all MRSC members and Ten Year Ticket holders (on production of your membership card or ticket book).