Munster need a plan to deal with deadly 'Brexoncello' in all-important URC final
There is a decidedly nervy feeling around Munster ahead of Friday night's win or bust clash with Treviso in Cork.
The province are sitting in the precarious position of eighth place in the URC standings ahead of the 18th and final round of the regular season. The hosts simply must prevail at Musgrave Park to guarantee their passage to the playoffs as well as Champions Cup rugby next season.
No pressure, lads. A slip-up on Leeside could have catastrophic consequences for the entire operation. And it's not ideal that one of the competitions in-form teams are paying a visit either. Tommaso Menoncello. Pic:Bennetton – or Treviso, if you want to give the Italians their traditional title – will arrive in Rebel country in buoyant form on the back of an emphatic 33-7 win against Glasgow at Stadio Monigo last weekend. The Scots are the latest in a long line of big scalps this season. A list which includes the Sharks, Ulster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and the Lions.
In January, they downed Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle in a European thriller on Italian soil. And a big reason for Treviso's recent success has been their stellar international midfield of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello or 'Brexoncello' as they have become known.
Munster have their own dynamic duo of Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell, the quietly excellent centres who have been arguably the province's strongest performers during a fairly middling campaign. But Brex and Menoncello are arguably the best midfield in the URC. Many observers believe they are the best centre combination in Europe at the moment. Was there a more influential or threatening midfield in the Six Nations? Juan Ignacio Brex. Pic:Irish fans will remember how the pair terrorised an out-of-sorts national team on the final day of the Six Nations in Rome a few months ago. Menoncello, in particular, was mesmeric during the Azzurri's first-half purple patch at Stadio Olimpico.
And Munster are going to have their hands full containing this brilliantly balanced duo in Friday night's make-or-break league encounter. There is 10 years separating Brex, the 32-year-old Argentine-born centre, and Menoncello, the dashing young star who was named the Six Nations Player of the Year the Tournament in 2024 following a breakthrough tournament.
There is a real ying and yang to this partnership. All iconic centre pairings have a nice blend of pace, power and skill. Think Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith or Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy or Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel. Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello during Italy's Six Nations match against Ireland earlier this year. Pic: Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Brexoncello is another strong partnership. Brex brings a subtly with his short passing game and laser-sharp vision, while Menoncello has electric pace and deft footwork. They have combined to devastating effect on several occasions, for club and country.'He is fantastic to play with,' Menoncello recently said about his fellow midfielder. 'He is a genius with his little passes, he is famous for them and it is very difficult to defend.'
Brex, meanwhile, knew that Menoncello was a special player from the moment he laid eyes on a raw 18-year-old rookie who turned up at training with the Treviso senior team as injury cover one afternoon. 'Everyone just said 'wow'. He was like he is now. We realised he can do super things, he has superpowers. It was really exciting.'
They have quickly become an institution at Test level, starting the last 15 of Italy 16 games en bloc. They have been consistently hailed as a market-leading centre combo. 'Since I arrived at Benetton at the top level, he was always the first to teach me,' Menoncello noted recently. 'To now be feared by other teams as a partnership makes me very proud and happy. Obviously, having him at both club and international level creates an even stronger link, which we can bring into Six Nations and Italy matches. Current Treviso head coach and former Italy captain Marco Bortolami. Pic:'As well as helping me, this connection with Nacho helps the whole team, because we are a bit unpredictable together and we know each other very well. We understand each other just with a glance.'
Indeed, current Treviso head coach and former Italy captain Marco Bortolami believes that Menoncello has only scratched the surface on his vast potential. 'Tommaso is a dominant ball carrier, but he needs to explore his full potential, such as moving the ball, becoming a playmaker when needed. That way he can become a complete and more dangerous player. If an opponent knows that when he has the ball in his hands he makes contact, that's one thing. But if he knows that he can do three different things, that's another thing altogether.'
Treviso have been achieving great things as well. They reached the Champions Cup knockout stages for the first time this season, going down 39-37 to Castres in a last-16 thriller at Stade Pierre Fabre. They are on the cusp of the URC knockout stages, too. A win on Munster soil would guarantee their place in the last eight.
The long-term issue for the club is whether they will be able to hold onto their prized midfield assets in the years ahead. Unlike Ireland, Italy have no restrictions on selecting overseas-based players, with the likes of Ange Capuozzo (Toulouse), Monty Ioane (Lyon), Paolo Garbisi (Toulon), Dino Lamb (Harlequins) and Ross Vintcent (Exeter Chiefs) plying their trade in foreign leagues.
And it appears that a number of big clubs are eying up Brex and Menoncello. The latter has been heavily linked with La Rochelle in recent months. Menoncello's contract expires at the end of next season and O'Gara is apparently keen to add the explosive Italian to his ranks in the summer.Brex, meanwhile, is reportedly on the way to Toulon this summer and there has been further speculation that the big-spending Top14 side also want to secure Menoncello's services. Those reports in France forced Treviso to release a strongly-worded statement last week, with the club stating that rumours that their young start would be heading for France as 'completely unfounded.''Menoncello, like all other players currently under contract, is bound to the club and he will continue to wear the green and white jersey in the 2025-26 season,' the club stated in no uncertain terms. Time will tell if Brexoncello remain on the books at Treviso next term. For now, the pair will be fully focused on causing more havoc in Cork. And that's a big worry for Munster's URC and European qualifications ambitions.
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It concluded a months-long, all-hands effort involving countless hours of work by people who care deeply about this club. Let me say first: I absolutely respect UEFA's aim to uphold sporting integrity in European competitions. But I believe—strongly—that the way this year's rule changes around multi-club ownership (MCO) were introduced and enforced has unintended negative consequences to that goal. I believe that the process has lacked consistency, clarity, and fairness. And Drogheda United is paying the price. What Happened There is and will be much talk about a missed deadline. I submit to you that the truth is much more nuanced and complicated than DUFC failing to file some paperwork on time. The issue at hand is that, according to UEFA, Trivela should have taken meaningful steps to fully separate from Drogheda United—through a share sale or transfer of control—in February, months before there was any certainty that Silkeborg IF would qualify for Europe, and in the midst of major off-field transitions for Drogheda. That was a busy and critical time for this club. We were transitioning to full-time football. We were securing a new long-term training ground. We were preparing for a brand new LOI season, and completing important and significant stadium upgrades, such as the 12th Man Lounge. Silkeborg were in and around the middle of the table in Denmark while we were doing all of this work at DUFC – over three months before SIF would ultimately become the final team to qualify for Europe. The core regulatory issue hinges on the 'Assessment Date' used by UEFA and the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) to evaluate the eligibility of clubs in MCOs. 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Further, it seems that some of those that were contacted and began taking steps before this deadline were then given time to implement structures after the deadline. We were not ever contacted directly, and Drogheda was not afforded that same flexibility. Regardless of how it happened – the reality is that larger and more resourced clubs had much more information and opportunity than DUFC did. That's a system that puts clubs and groups like ours at a disadvantage. Worse still, historical precedent gave us every reason to believe that we would have a path to resolve any concerns post-assessment date. In recent years, multiple clubs have enacted share transfers, blind trust structures, and other remedies after the assessment date. Those precedents shaped our expectations—and we acted accordingly. The moment it became clear to us that this cycle would be different – months ago, at this point – we engaged directly with UEFA. Over those months, we offered multiple remedies: a share transfer back to the Drogheda United Members Club, placement of shares into an Irish trust, and participation in a UK-based UEFA-approved templatized blind trust structure. We were turned away at every step. The end result is that CAS has now ruled, on a 2–1 split decision, that UEFA was within its rights to enforce the rule this way. Perhaps this is the case – but it remains the fact that DUFC faced a severe disadvantage relative to other clubs. Moving Forward I personally believe this decision makes an example of Drogheda so that UEFA can signal a change of approach to its regulation of MCOs. It punishes a club that, just a year ago, was still part-time and operating without a CEO. It punishes a community-focused organization run with integrity, ambition, and limited resources—while major clubs with compliance departments and vast legal teams were granted direct communication and additional time to comply. That disparity, however inadvertent, should not exist in European football. But it does. That said, accountability ultimately falls on us at DUFC and at Trivela Group. The responsibility to navigate regulations—however murky or fast-changing—belongs to our leadership. There was no malice and no bad faith. We have always endeavored to work in the best interests of the club and the community. But we now know that wasn't enough. And ultimate responsibility for our various teams and staff working on these issues rolls up to me. And for that, I offer a personal, sincere apology to our players, staff, and supporters. This will never happen again. But let me be equally clear: this setback will not define Drogheda United's future. We care deeply about this club and this town, and we are committed to its long-term success. The club remains on sound footing. Trivela will cover the shortfall in revenue from missing Europe, and we are fully committed to seeing this project through. Day-to-day operations are unaffected. I will be meeting personally with our players and staff in the coming days, and I hope that we as a group can remain focused on the task at hand. Our FAI Cup title defense begins in July. And we have great potential to qualify for Europe again via the League of Ireland campaign. The future remains bright. We've now submitted documents to Louth County Council to pursue securing the land for our new stadium—one of the most significant steps in this club's history. That work continues, uninterrupted. Drogheda United is no stranger to adversity. We've been written off, knocked down, and counted out before. We've come back every time. This time will be no different. We are hurt, but we are not done. The path ahead remains the same. This club is still going somewhere special. And nothing—not even this—will stop us. With grief and resolve, – BB
