In Stats | Season So Far

Munster were on course to reach the knock-out stages of the Guinness PRO14 when the season was indefinitely suspended in March with a possible return to action coming in August.

Check out the best photos from the season so far here.

So far this season, over 19 games across the Guinness PRO14 and Champions Cup, the province won 12, drew one and lost six.

New Additions

Munster’s pre-season training programme began on July 1, 2019, with Nick McCarthy and promoted Academy players Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes, Shane Daly and Seán O’Connor the new additions to the senior squad.

Senior Coach Stephen Larkham joined the province in mid-August and new Forwards Coach Graham Rowntree joined Munster in late October following his Rugby World Cup commitments with Georgia.

Graham Rowntree ahead of his first game as part of the coaching team in November 2019.

Landmarks

Nick McCarthy and Academy players Jake Flannery, Ben Healy, John Hodnett, Keynan Knox and Jack O’Sullivan all made their Munster debuts this season along with short-term signing Jed Holloway.

There have been Champions Cup debuts for Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, Craig Casey, Ben Healy and Jack O’Sullivan.

Billy Holland has now made 227 appearances for Munster and has the fourth most appearances in the province’s history. Stephen Archer surpassed the 200-cap mark against Edinburgh in November and is eighth on the list with 208 appearances.

John Ryan made his 150th Munster appearance with Niall Scannell reaching the 100 landmark as Dan Goggin surpassed 50 appearances.

Andrew Conway scored his 42nd Munster try against Racing 92 in January to move ahead of Anthony Horgan into third place on the province’s list of top try-scorers.

Andrew Conway on his way to scoring his 42nd Munster try.

Man of the Match Awards

There have been Man of the Match awards for JJ Hanrahan (three), Shane Daly (two), Mike Haley (two), Rory Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, Jack O’Donoghue, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Academy player John Hodnett and Kevin O’Byrne.

Captains

Squad captain Peter O’Mahony, Billy Holland, Jack O’Donoghue, Tommy O’Donnell, CJ Stander and Niall Scannell have all led Munster this season with Scannell captaining the team for the first time against Zebre in February.

Appearances

49 players have lined out for Munster in the Guinness PRO14 and Champions Cup so far this season.

Seven Academy players have played competitive rugby for the province this season – Diarmuid Barron, Liam Coombes, Jake Flannery, Ben Healy, John Hodnett, Keynan Knox and Jack O’Sullivan.

Rory Scannell and Kevin O’Byrne have played the most games for Munster this season with 18 appearances each. Scannell has played the most minutes (1,196) followed closely by Mike Haley (1,162), who played the most minutes in the 2018/19 season.

Rory Scannell has played the most minutes for Munster this season.

Top Scorers

JJ Hanrahan is Munster’s top points-scorer so far this season with one try and 143 points off the tee for a total of 148.

JJ has kicked 40 of his 44 shots at goal in the PRO14 and was successful with 22 kicks in a row in the competition.

Arno Botha was Munster’s overall top try-scorer with six tries while Andrew Conway scored the most Munster tries in the Champions Cup with three.

Attendances

There was a record-equalling attendance at Thomond Park for the December game against Leinster as additional seating helped to cater for a fantastic 26,267 crowd. In all three of Munster’s home Champions Cup games, the attendances (25,600 v Racing 92, 25,034 v Saracens & 19,891 v Ospreys) were each the highest for their respective round of fixtures.

Record Win

Following last season’s record PRO14 64-7 win over Ulster at Thomond Park, Munster secured another record win this season thanks to a 68-3 victory over Southern Kings at Irish Independent Park.

Internationals

On the international front, 12 Munster players represented Ireland at the Rugby World Cup – Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Dave Kilcoyne, Jean Kleyn, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony, John Ryan, Niall Scannell and CJ Stander.

To date, six Munster players have lined out during the 2020 6 Nations campaign: Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Dave Kilcoyne, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander.

Three Munster players were involved for the Ireland U20s in their Triple Crown success in the U20 Six Nations – Thomas Ahern, Jack Crowley and Ciaran Ryan.

Video | Munster’s Season So Far