Greencore Academy Update

Elite Player Development Manager Peter Malone looks back at the happenings of the Greencore Munster Academy over the last month.

Munster’s pre-season 45-8 defeat to Gloucester on Saturday which featured ten Academy players…
“It was a tough outing for the lads but that’s the reality of professional rugby. It was still a massive learning experience to play a full strength Aviva Premiership side laden with internationals and in front of a full house at Kingsholm. It lets the younger players know the level they have to get to and they will be all the better for the experience, so when they get the opportunity again they’ll be even more ready for it.”

The Academy had five representatives for Munster at the Limerick World Club 7’s on August 9^th and 10^th…
“Speaking to Anthony Foley after the tournament, he had a lot of time for how well the Academy players acquitted themselves. It was out of our comfort zone as there isn’t much of a 7s culture over here, but that said our guys held up very well while playing against some of the best 7s teams in the world. The experience of reaching the quarter-final of the competition will stand to our Academy lads and perhaps there’s merit to us playing a bit more 7s, certainly in pre-season, using it to sharpen our skills.”

Thoughts on pre-season as it draws to a close…
“Pre-season went very well for us and it’s great to train hard with the lads five days a week. That’s never the case once the season kicks off as we need to taper things down heading into a match weekend. Some of our lads completed the senior programme, with the Strength and Conditioning staff very happy with their effort and results, while the same goes for those at the Rockwell Talent Camps and Academy programmes in UL and CIT. Over the next six months our guys will really reap the rewards of a tough pre-season.”

Some Academy players also feature in the Munster U20s side…
“The lads endured a 3-19 loss to Italy U20s in a pre-season friendly, but we wanted to test ourselves against the best opposition out there. You learn more from losses to stronger sides than you do from wins over weaker ones. However, it was disappointing that we never really fired in the second 40.

“Connacht last week was another good opportunity to give guys a run out and this week we are in France to play Clermont, Georgia and Leicester in a four team tournament. The main objective is to get quality opposition for our developing players and to test them in situations where they haven’t been challenged before.”

Looking ahead to the U20 Interpros in September…
“We feel we’ve prepared well, addressing all areas under our control in a 5 week talent camp at Rockwell and on our current trip to France. With lots of hard work done we’re confident that our lads will put in a good performance next month.”

For a full list of representative fixtures please click here.

While in senior action Munster play host to London Irish in the pre-season SEAT Challenge at the Waterford RSC, this Friday at 7:30pm. To purchase tickets online please click here.