Season In Stats | 2018/19

Munster reached the semi-finals of both the Guinness PRO14 and Champions Cup in the 2018/19 campaign but fell short in their quest for silverware.

Check out the best photos from the season in our gallery here.

Munster suffered away semi-final defeats to the eventual winners of the Champions Cup (Saracens) and the Guinness PRO14 (Leinster).

Over 31 games across the Guinness PRO14 and Champions Cup, the province won 22, drew one and lost eight.

Munster scored 790 points, including 99 tries, over the season. The province boasted the best defensive record in the PRO14 regular season, conceding fewer tries than anyone else with 44.

Munster also had the meanest defence in the Champions Cup Pool stages, conceding an average of just 12 points per game.

Munster were unbeaten in 14 home games this season, winning all 10 at Thomond Park and all four at Irish Independent Park.

The province finished second behind Glasgow Warriors in Conference A of the Guinness PRO14 with 77 points – 16 wins and five defeats.

Munster were the third highest try-scorers in the PRO14 regular season with 82 tries in 21 games. A record win over Ulster at Thomond Park in September saw Johann van Graan’s side secure a nine-try 64-7 victory.

Munster topped Pool 2 of the Champions Cup with Premiership finalists Exeter in second place. It was the third year in succession that the province qualified for the quarter-finals as pool winners.

Munster’s Champions Cup records were extended with the province qualifying for an 18th quarter-final and 14th semi-final, both competition records.

55 players were involved over the course of the season with 37 of those following the Munster pathway into the professional game with eight current Greencore Munster Rugby Academy members named in matchday squads.

There were 11 debuts (6 Academy players) over the course of the campaign as Diarmuid Barron, Tadhg Beirne, Arno Botha, Joey Carbery, Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes, Liam Coombes, Shane Daly, Mike Haley, Alby Mathewson and Alex McHenry all made their first appearances for the province.

Carbery was Munster’s top points-scorer with 154 points while Andrew Conway and Keith Earls were joint top try-scorers with eight each.

Billy Holland became the tenth player to reach 200 caps for the province.

Rory Scannell became the youngest player to make his 100th appearance for Munster at the age of just 25 with Conway, JJ Hanrahan and Jack O’Donoghue also reaching 100 Munster caps.

Mike Haley played more minutes than any other player for Munster this season with the full-back racking up 1,876 minutes in 26 starts.

The collective team effort saw 10 players receive Man of the Match recognition across the PRO14 and Champions with Tadhg Beirne and Joey Carbery leading the way. Darren Sweetnam, Chris Cloete, Joey Carbery (4), Tadhg Beirne (5), Alby Mathewson, Kevin O’Byrne (2), JJ Hanrahan (2), CJ Stander, Keith Earls and Peter O’Mahony were all awarded Man of the Match.

With Peter O’Mahony as squad captain, Tyler Bleyendaal and Billy Holland also led the squad in O’Mahony’s absence during the season.

On the international front, 13 Munster players represented Ireland this season – Sammy Arnold, Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander, Darren Sweetnam and John Ryan.

11 Munster players were involved for the Ireland U20s in their Grand Slam success in the U20 Six Nations including Academy players Craig Casey, Seán French, Ben Healy, James McCarthy, Jonathan Wren and Josh Wycherley.

Jake Flannery, John Hodnett, Conor Phillips, Luke Masters and Billy Scannell were also involved.

Both of the Ireland U20s’ home games were played in front of excellent attendances at Irish Independent Park with 5,764 at Ireland v England and a capacity crowd of 8,008 at Ireland v France.

Munster A finished second in Pool 1 of the Celtic Cup table, winning 5 of 6 games.

There were six sell-out attendances across the season in Thomond Park and Irish Independent Park with games against Ospreys, Edinburgh, Leinster, Exeter Chiefs, Southern Kings and Cardiff Blues all full houses. All four games at Irish Independent Park sold-out for the first time ever.

Attendances increased by 15% across the season with a 10% rise in ticket sales.

In all three of Munster’s Champions Cup Pool games, the attendances (23,068 at Munster v Gloucester, 21,861 at Munster v Castres Olympique and 26,267 at Munster v Exeter Chiefs) were the highest for their round of the competition.

Incoming players

Craig Casey (Academy)

Gavin Coombes (Academy)

Shane Daly (Academy)

Nick McCarthy (Leinster Rugby)

Seán O’Connor (Academy)

Outgoing players

Stephen Fitzgerald, James Hart, Bill Johnston, Ian Keatley, Dave O’Callaghan, Ronan O’Mahony, Mike Sherry, Jaco Taute and Duncan Williams.

Try Of The Season

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