Edwin Edogbo’s Journey From Cobh Pirates To Interntional Rugby

Munster lock Edwin Edogbo was originally aiming to be a tennis star before stumbling upon rugby on a Saturday morning in his local club, Cobh Pirates.

Since 2015, Edogbo has climbed through the ranks. From club to academy and now the Irish team to face Italy in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Cobh man’s rise has been meteoric.

We caught up with some of the people who made it all possible to learn more about his rise through the ranks and what his success means to his club and the people of Cobh.

“The story goes he was actually more in love with tennis in the beginning when on one particular Saturday morning he was brought up to Cobh Pirates to watch his brother, Sean, play in a minis game,” says Cobh Pirates PRO Richie McGrath.

“He clearly took a liking to what he saw and decided to give it a go.

“Like any rugby player, the good thing about the sport is that it finds the position for you, no matter where you start. So, he started out on the wing and slowly but surely made his way along and into the centres. Before he knew it, he was in the back row and then the second row.

“That was just his starting point, which then led him to being awarded ‘Most Improved Player’ after his first year with the club and he was part of the Pirates U18 squad that made the final of the Munster Cup in 2019 and 2020.”

As Edwin entered the Munster ranks, his roots remained true to Cobh Pirates. McGrath continued: “He has never left the club, per se. He is always around. You would often find him in the gym of Saturday morning, happy out and putting in the work.

“He has also been involved in a number of age-grade activities as well and is great for coming down and chatting to the kids.

“Everyone in the club feels like they are on this journey with him. It is as if we all shared a part in his journey as he progressed from the Munster and Irish Age-Grade squads all the way up to his first senior appearance for Munster.

“We all felt it when he got his two serious injuries, and then when he came back on the scene and got called into the Irish squad for the Autumn Nations Series, we were delighted for him and then gutted that he got ruled out due to concussion.”

Speaking about what it means to the club to see Edwin named amongst the replacements for this weekend’s Six Nations clash against Italy Mcgrath said: “To any Junior Club, it is the pinnacle of opportunities. Being able to see one of our own players go from grassroots all the way to the very top.

“To put it into context, once the Six Nations has ended, any of our minis players could bump into him up in the club. Which is fantastic because they’re not only are getting to meet a player they have been watching on the TV the weeks beforehand, but also it shows them that there is a pathway there for them and they too can achieve that honour.

“He is just an absolutely fantastic role model for the club, and we are all so proud of him.”

Once he turned 16, Edwin made his way into the Munster Rugby Age-Grade pathway. He was selected for the Munster U18 Clubs team in 2019 after helping Pirates reach the Munster U18 final. He also went on to line out for the Ireland U18 Clubs team and was selected for the Ireland U18 Schools side.

The Cobh man was also the first player from the East Cork club to earn a place in the Munster Academy.

We caught up with Bernard Kiely, one of the key figures in Edogbo’s success story, to learn more about his journey through the Age-Grade pathway. “When Edwin started off in the U16 Munster Summer Programme, he was accompanied by three Cobh teammates, which meant that no matter what step he took, he was always making that step with people who were familiar to him.

“He was blessed to have his first introduction to the Munster Rugby system under Ken O’Connell. He was just brilliant as his coach, especially with his encouragement and enthusiasm for the game.

“From the summer programme then he went into the Munster U17s which meant he was working with Brendan O’Connor. As his involvement went on, O’Connor would have been one of the first guys to take notice of his talent and promote him for further recognition.”

During his time with the Munster U17s, Edwin was also selected to be apart of the National Talent Squad Programme under Wayne Mitchell. He was then selected for the Irish U18 Schools squad after featuring in the Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup with the Munster CSP (Club Select Programme) side.

Kiely said: “While I coached the group in Pirates, the Munster rugby flagging process would have identified him, as it would with any other player, at the U15 age group. Ken O’Connell and Keith Murphy were integral in this, as they would have been the people dealing with the flagging process at that time.

“What stood out initially was his sheer stature, but as coaches got to know him as time went on, his likability became a big factor, as he was just a great person to be around and have in a team in general.”

On completion of his schools days at Colaiste Mhuire in Cobh, Edwin started studying Engineering in UCC and featured for the club in the early rounds of the 2020/21 All-Ireland League season.

He formally joined the Academy in November 2021 and after returning from long-term injury, made his debut against Dragons in the second game of the 2022/23 campaign.

He would then go on to feature prominently over the 2022/23 campaign and helped Munster to a famous win over South Africa A at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

He scored three tries in seven appearances in the first half of the 2023/24 season before sustaining an Achilles injury against Leinster on St Stephen’s Day.

Edwin returned to action once again on October 11, 2025, coming off the bench against Edinburgh after almost 22 months out.

Since then, Edwin has featured in a further ten games for Munster, scoring two tries.

After a triumphant return, Edwin was named in the Irish squad for the 2026 Guinness Six Nations and will make his debut off the bench this Saturday as Ireland take on Italy in the Aviva Stadium.