Munster Rugby Season In Stats | 2021/22

Take a look at the stats from the 2021/22 campaign that saw Munster compete in the Champions Cup and the inaugural United Rugby Championship.

Following a 24-all draw against Toulouse after extra-time in the Champions Cup quarter-finals, Munster were knocked out of Europe by the French champions after a place-kicking competition.

A disappointing performance in Belfast saw Ulster knock Munster out at the quarter-final stage of the URC as the province’s campaign ended with a 36-17 defeat.

In total, 58 players featured for Munster this season (46 senior, 10 Academy and 2 club players) over 26 games.

Tries & Top-Scorers

Simon Zebo and Jack O’Donoghue topped the season’s try-scoring charts with nine tries apiece. Both players scored seven URC tries and two each in the Champions Cup.

Keith Earls scored five tries in 12 appearances to reach the 100 try landmark for Munster (64), Ireland (34) and the British & Irish Lions (2).

Ben Healy was Munster’s top points scorer with 125, ahead of Joey Carbery (108 points).

Scoring & Conceding

Over the 26 games of 2021/22, Munster scored 714 points and conceded 471.

On average, Munster scored 27 points per game and conceded 18.

In seven Champions Cup games, the province conceded just 12 tries

Debuts & Academy Appearances

There were debuts for 14 players this season, including eight Greencore Munster Rugby Academy members and two club players.

The full list of debutants includes: Scott Buckley, Tony Butler, Patrick Campbell, Ethan Coughlan, Mark Donnelly, John Forde (Cork Constitution), James French, Jason Jenkins, Conor Moloney (Young Munster), Declan Moore, Eoin O’Connor, Daniel Okeke, Rowan Osborne and Jonathan Wren.

There have been Champions Cup debuts for 21 players. All of the players above, other than Osborne, made their first appearances in the Champions Cup along with Thomas Ahern, Diarmuid Barron, Jack Crowley, Jack Daly, John Hodnett, Alex Kendellen, Keynan Knox and Roman Salanoa.

There were 45 appearances for Academy players this season with Alex Kendellen featuring in 20 of the province’s 26 fixtures.

In all, 10 Academy players lined out for Munster this year: Scott Buckley, Tony Butler, Patrick Campbell, Ethan Coughlan, Mark Donnelly, Alex Kendellen, Eoin O’Connor, Daniel Okeke, Paddy Patterson and Jonathan Wren.

Scott Buckley, Paddy Kelly, Alex Kendellen, Eoin O’Connor and Paddy Patterson all move up to senior contracts next season.

Accolades, Landmarks & Leaders

Gavin Coombes, Jack O’Donoghue, Peter O’Mahony (two each), Craig Casey, Chris Cloete, Scott Buckley, Damian de Allende, Tadhg Beirne, Neil Cronin and Alex Kendellen all won Player of the Match awards this season.

Stephen Archer (248 caps) moved up to second on the province’s all-time list of leading appearances ahead of Billy Holland.

Dave Kilcoyne became the 11th player to reach the 200-cap landmark for Munster.

Rory Scannell, Jack O’Donoghue and Simon Zebo earned their 150th Munster caps with O’Donoghue becoming the youngest player to reach the landmark.

Jean Kleyn made his 100th appearance and Chris Farrell surpassed the 50-cap landmark.

Simon Zebo overtook Anthony Foley to become Munster’s record try-scorer in the Champions Cup after his double against Wasps.

Jack O’Donoghue was included in the initial longlist for European Player of the Year after the Pool stages.

Craig Casey and Jean Kleyn were named in the 2021/22 URC Dream Team.

Club captain Peter O’Mahony, Jack O’Donoghue and Tadhg Beirne all captained Munster this season with Beirne captaining Munster for the first time in the win over Ulster.

Appearances & Minutes Played

Jack O’Donoghue and Fineen Wycherley both played in 23 of Munster’s 26 games this season with Jack edging Fineen on minutes played, notching up 1,638 minutes compared to Fineen’s 1,569.

Chris Farrell played in 1,553 minutes over his 21 appearances with Jean Kleyn, Jeremy Loughman and John Ryan also hitting the 21-game mark.

Club Representation

In all, there were 180 appearances for senior and Greencore Academy players for their clubs in the All Ireland League this year.

Those 180 appearances were spread across 33 players.

The weekend of January 21/22 was the highest for AIL representation over the season as 19 players lined out in round 11 of the AIL.

Greencore Munster Rugby Academy lock Eoin O’Connor made the most club appearances this year as he played 14 games for Young Munster.

Seán French (Cork Constitution) and Declan Moore (Shannon) made the most appearances from the senior squad with the duo each featuring in 12 club games.

Internationals

Tadhg Beirne, Craig Casey, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Dave Kilcoyne, Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony all featured for Ireland this season.

Thomas Ahern was called up by Ireland for the first time as a development player.

Academy players Tony Butler, Ethan Coughlan and Patrick Campbell helped the Ireland U20s to a Grand Slam in the 6 Nations along with fellow Munster representatives Darragh McSweeney, Conor Moloney and Ronán O’Sullivan.