2019–20 Munster Rugby season

The 2019–20 Munster Rugby season is Munster's nineteenth season competing in the Pro14, alongside which they also compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup. It is Johann van Graan's third season as head coach.

Events
Backs coach Felix Jones and forwards coach Jerry Flannery left the province when their contracts expired in June 2019. Graham Rowntree joined the province as their new forwards coach after the completion of his duties with Georgia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Stephen Larkham, attack coach for the Australian national team, also joined the province as a senior coach ahead of the 2019–20 season.

Club legend and head of commercial and marketing, Doug Howlett, also left the province to return to New Zealand in the summer of 2019, ending his 11-year association with Munster. Munster's CEO Garrett Fitzgerald retired upon reaching retirement age in June 2019. Fitzgerald was Munster's first CEO and had been in the post since 1999, making him the longest serving provincial chief executive in Irish rugby at the time. Ian Flanagan, who was born in Cork and previously worked at Leicester City F.C, was appointed to replace Fitzgerald.

In a change from the previous two seasons, Munster will be in conference B for the 2019–20 Pro14 season, alongside Benetton, Cardiff Blues, Connacht, Edinburgh, Scarlets and Southern Kings. This will also be the case for the 2020–21 season, and the change was made based on the points total each club achieved after the completion of the regular 2018–19 season.

Munster opened their 2019–20 Pro14 season with a 39–9 home victory against Welsh side Dragons on 28 September 2019, with the tries coming from Arno Botha, Jack O'Donoghue, Man-of-the-Match Shane Daly, Tyler Bleyendaal and academy member Diarmuid Barron, and fly-half J. J. Hanrahan contributing 14 points off the kicking tee. New signing Nick McCarthy and academy members Keynan Knox and Jack O'Sullivan all made their senior competitive debuts for the province, and hooker Kevin O'Byrne won his 50th cap. Short-term signing Jed Holloway made his debut for the province in their 31–20 away win against South African side Southern Kings on 5 October 2019.

In the opening two rounds of the 2019–20 Champions Cup, Munster beat Welsh Pro14 rivals Ospreys 32–13 away from home on 16 November 2019, with tries from Jeremy Loughman, Keith Earls, Andrew Conway and James Cronin and twelve points off the kicking tee from Tyler Bleyendaal, before drawing 21–21 at home against French side Racing 92 on 23 November 2019; Munster's tries came from Keith Earls and Andrew Conway, and JJ Hanrahan contributed eleven points with the boot. The draw was Munster's first at home in the Champions Cup, against a Racing side that included former Munster players Donnacha Ryan and Simon Zebo in their starting XV.

Prop Stephen Archer won his 200th cap for Munster in their 2019–20 Pro14 round 7 fixture against Edinburgh on 29 November 2019, becoming the eleventh player to achieve the accolade for the province. Academy fly-half Ben Healy made his debut for Munster during the same game, scoring 11 points in the 18–16 defeat to the Scottish side.

In the Champions Cup back-to-backs against defending champions Saracens, Munster won 10–3 at home on 7 December 2019, with the English side picking up a losing bonus point. In the return fixture one week later, Munster were beaten 15–6, with two tries in the final quarter securing the win for Saracens and denying Munster a losing bonus point.

Following an incident that triggered a large brawl in Munster's second fixture against Saracens in December 2019 and a complaint to the EPCR from Saracens, in which Munster team doctor Jamie Kearns was accused of verbally abusing Saracens hooker Jamie George, an independent panel upheld the complaint and found that Kearns had breached the EPCR's disciplinary rules, handing Kearns a three-week ban, suspended for 12 months, and a fine of €2,000 to be paid immediately.

Munster went into their round 5 Champions Cup clash away to Racing 92 on 12 January 2020 knowing that they had to win to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals of the tournament, but despite leading the French club with ten minutes to go, late tries from Racing secured a 39–22 win for the home side. Munster needed results elsewhere to go their way if they were to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals as the final round of pool matches took place, but Glasgow Warriors 45–7 win against Sale Sharks ended those hopes before Munster's final game against Ospreys had even taken place. In the event, Munster won 33–6 against Ospreys, with Craig Casey, who made his European debut for the province in the defeat to Racing, scoring his first try for Munster, and Calvin Nash, Jack O'Sullivan and Ben Healy making their European debuts for the province.

Munster's 68–3 win against South African side Southern Kings in round 11 of the Pro14 on 14 February 2020 was a record margin of victory for the province in the competition, and the ten tries scored also set a new record for the province. Academy member John Hodnett made his debut for Munster in the fixture, scoring a try and earning the Man-of-the-Match award. The match had an added poignancy for Munster, as their long-serving former CEO, Garrett Fitzgerald, who had only retired in June 2019, passed away following a battle with illness earlier that day.

Coaching and management staff 2019–20

Senior squad 2019–20
Munster player movements for the 2019–20 season. For a full list, see List of 2019–20 Pro14 transfers.(Player's name in italics indicates a transfer that took place during the course of the season)

Players In
 Gavin Coombes promoted from Academy
 Shane Daly promoted from Academy
 Nick McCarthy from  Leinster
 Seán O'Connor promoted from Academy
 Craig Casey promoted from Academy
 Jed Holloway from  Waratahs (Two-month contract)

Players Out
 Stephen Fitzgerald to  Connacht
 Jaco Taute to  Leicester Tigers
 Duncan Williams released
 Bill Johnston to  Ulster
 James Hart to  Biarritz
 Dave O'Callaghan to  Biarritz
 Mike Sherry retired
 Alby Mathewson released

The Munster senior squad for 2019–20 is:

 Internationally capped players in bold
 Players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality *
 Irish provinces are currently limited to four non-Irish eligible (NIE) players and one non-Irish qualified player (NIQ or "Project Player").
Notes:

Academy squad 2019–20

The Munster academy squad for the 2019–20 season is:

Notes:

Pre-season

2019–20 Pro14

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup

Munster were seeded in tier 2 when the draw for the 2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup was made in Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday 19 June 2019, and were drawn in pool 4 alongside defending champions Saracens, Racing 92, who count former Munster players Donnacha Ryan and Simon Zebo amongst their squad, and fellow Pro14 side Ospreys.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

2019–20 Munster A season

2019–20 Celtic Cup

In a change from the 2018–19 tournament, the 2019–20 edition of the Celtic Cup will feature all eight teams in a single league, rather than two conferences, with each team playing seven matches and the top two teams advancing to a final on 12 October 2019. Munster A finished 6th in the tournament with 13 points, 2 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Friendlies

Challenge Match

Annual Ireland U20 match

Interpro

References

External links

2019–20
Category:2019–20 Pro14 by team
Category:2019–20 in Irish rugby union
Category:2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup by team