Getting To Know John Madigan

Having successfully rehabilitated a shoulder injury that curtailed much of his involvement in 2014/15, a strong start to the new season has seen academy second row John Madigan make four appearances for the senior side, including his PRO12 debut against Treviso in Cork.

A product of the Munster Youths system, Madigan was promoted from the sub academy to the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy at the beginning of the 2013/14 season and later won selection for Munster and Ireland U20s, although illness would prevent him from travelling to the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand.

After making his first senior appearances for Munster away to Gloucester and at home to London Irish in pre-season of last year, the aforementioned injury problems would see him miss much of the remaining season.

Working hand-in-hand with academy S&C and medical staff, the Charleville native returned in time to feature for Munster ‘A’ against the Connacht Eagles in early April and also featured in two further Interprovincial clashes with the Ulster Ravens later that month.

After completing a full pre-season in recent months, the 6’6” lock has since featured in all three warm-up friendlies (against Grenoble, Connacht and London Irish) and went on to make his PRO12 debut against Treviso in Irish Independent Park earlier this month after being named in the starting XV.

Madigan reflects on his season to date, “It’s been a tough two to three years with injuries and illness but I’m delighted that I got a full pre-season under my belt this year. I came back a few weeks early, put in a lot of hard work and thankfully it paid off. I got a couple of starts in pre-season, was able to show some good form and I was delighted to get the PRO12 start against Treviso.

“Playing in the league was a great experience. I had never played in that intensity before, but that’s the challenge and I learnt a lot from it. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to experience it this season.”

On the arrival of Mark Chisholm to Munster, Madigan added, “The man has so much experience of playing at the top level, both internationally and at club level. I look forward to learning a lot from him. I also learned a lot from the likes of Donncha O’Callaghan and we’re lucky in Munster that we have a lot of wonderful role models in the second row – it’s great for me to be in that position.”

Name: John Madigan

Favourite Food: Bacon and cabbage

Book you are currently reading or have just finished: Can’t quite remember the name but it was a James Patterson thriller

Favourite TV programme: Made in Chelsea

Favourite Film: The Lion King

Favourite Actor/Actress: Russell Crowe / Angelina Jolie

Most enjoyable holiday location: Orlando, Florida

Marooned on a desert island what could you not be without: Company

Favourite sport other than rugby: Hurling

The sport you least like: Hockey

Person you would most like to meet: Barack Obama

Sportsperson you admire most: Tony McCoy

Hobbies: Following hurling, football and playing golf

Where and when did you first play rugby: Charleville RFC aged 7

Biggest influence on career: My father

Best career advice you were given: Control the controllables

What you like most/least about being a rugby player: Doing something you love as your job / Miss out on a lot of social nights

Other sports that you played: Hurling, football and golf

Best rugby memory: Winning my first cap for Munster against Treviso this month

Rugby player you admire most: Paul O’Connell

Rugby team you admire most: South Africa

Sporting event you would most like to attend: Superbowl

Three people you would invite to dinner: Johnny Wilkinson, Emily Ratajkowski and Spencer Matthews (Made in Chelsea)

If you weren’t a rugby player what would you be: A doctor

Place in the province you most like to chill out: Inchydoney beach

Who would you least like to room with and why: James Cronin because he snores