North Munster RDS Up And Running

This season’s North Munster Regional Development Squad began training two weeks ago.

The squad will continue to train until next May when players will be selected from all four regional squads to form the Munster Under-17 Development Squad under Head coach Andy Brace.

Along with his coaching team, Brace will work with this squad throughout the summer to prepare them for a 12-month programme with the Munster Under 18 Clubs side under the watch of Head Coach Fiach O’Loughlin.

Approximately 30 players from clubs within North Munster will form the Regional Development squad.

These players are currently playing at Under-16 level with their clubs, and most would have already been on the pathway and training with the North Munster Cadet Squad throughout the summer.

Players in the North RDS will partake in one pitch session a week on Wednesdays in LIT under Coach Development Officer Noel O Meara and assistant coaches Tom Fogarty (Garryowen), Euan Gee (Community Rugby Officer), and Mike Storey (UL Bohs).

Players will also have one supervised strength and conditioning session a week in one of the three designated gyms, under the care of our qualified S&C coaches, Ged McNamara and Kevin Moloney.

Along with this, players will be taking full part in their club activities.

Munster Rugby maintain an open door policy which means it is never too late for a player to join this pathway.

Our coaches are continuously searching for the next Donnacha Ryan or Jack O'Donoghue, who are just two examples of players who came through this programme.

If you think your club has that player within your underage squad, his coach can contact Noel O’Meara at 086 6011725 to discuss.

The player must be willing to commit to the programme in order to be considered.

Finally, Noel O'Meara would like to invite all stage three club coaches to attend the pitch sessions on a Wednesday night. He is happy to provide a copy of the session plan to all coaches who attend and discuss the content and engage in a discussion with them after each session.