Keith Wood's son Tom one of five new Munster academy recruits
MUNSTER HAVE CONFIRMED five new recruits to the province's academy squad.
Emmet Calvey, Conor Kennelly, Oisín Minogue, Eoghan Smyth and Tom Wood will all join ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Tom Wood is the son of former Munster and Ireland player Keith Wood. Tom's older brother, Gordon, is heading into year two of the Munster academy.
Oisín Minogue is a nephew of former Munster player and coach Anthony Foley.
Advertisement
Prop Calvey, 20, hails from Clare and is an Ireland U20 international. He featured for Munster A in this season's interprovincial championship but missed Ireland's U20 campaign with injury.
Kennelly, 19, plays lock and featured the Ireland U20s against Wales, France and Italy in this year's U20 Six Nations.
Shannon RFC flanker Minogue (19) came through at Ballina-Killaloe RFC and St Munchin's College. The son of former Ireland international Rosie Foley, he played for the Ireland U20s against England and Scotland in this year's Six Nations.
Smyth is a centre from Cork Constitution, and played in all five Ireland U20s games in the 2025 Six Nations.
Garryowen's Wood (19) made three appearances for the Ireland U20s at out-half, and played for Munster A in the interpros earlier this year.
2025/26 Munster academy squad:
Year 3: George Hadden, Dylan Hicks, Darragh McSweeney, Ben O'Connor, Max Clein, Ronan Foxe.
Year 2: Jake O'Riordan, Gene O'Leary Kareem, Michael Foy, Danny Sheahan, Seán Edogbo, Luke Murphy, Gordon Wood.
Year 1: Emmet Calvey, Conor Kennelly, Oisin Minogue, Eoghan Smyth, Tom Wood.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
6 hours ago
- The 42
'Johnny is very different than what he was on the field'
JOHNNY SEXTON AND Richard Wigglesworth had a few run-ins on the pitch over the years, but now they're fighting for the same cause. The former Ireland out-half and ex-England scrum-half are both part of Andy Farrell's coaching staff for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. Renowned as intelligent operators during their playing days, Sexton and Wigglesworth were on opposing coaching teams earlier this year when Ireland beat England in the Six Nations. Given the history, they're enjoying being on the same side now. 'It's a bit different,' said Wigglesworth after the Lions' captain's run in Dublin this afternoon ahead of tomorrow's sold-out clash with Argentina. 'I've really enjoyed him, so very different than what he was on the field. I'm maybe similar, but without the extreme that Johnny was on the field and off it. 'We've had a good few debates about some match-ups we had. So no, we've had some good fun talking about it. Really enjoying working with him. Obviously, great knowledge, a good eye for what's going on, and just wants to help, like we all do.' Advertisement Farrell has six assistant coaches in total, the most since Clive Woodward's bloated 2005 tour. Ireland's Simon Easterby, John Fogarty, Andrew Goodman, and Sexton have joined Farrell, along with Scotland's John Dalziel and England's Richard Wigglesworth. The Lions didn't publicly announce what each of Farrell's assistants will focus on but most of it is clear. Easterby will be in charge of defence, Fogarty is the scrum coach, and Dalziel will lead the rest of the forward play. Wigglesworth at the Aviva Stadium today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Farrell has been in charge of Ireland's phase-play attack in recent years, with backs coach Goodman focusing heavily on the set-piece strike plays. Sexton works on Ireland's kicking game but also has input on the Irish attack, although he said this week that his Lions role revolves specifically around kicking. Wigglesworth is a senior assistant coach with England and guides their attack, while also being renowned as a kick strategy expert. So there appears to be an overlap of coaching specialities in attack and kicking. Wigglesworth wasn't willing to clarify exactly how the various responsibilities have been divided out, but said Farrell wants a collaborative approach. 'I wouldn't like to elaborate on it too much because I think it's Andy's to do when he gives it out,' said Wigglesworth. 'So, he wants us all to work together. We've got our little roles, but if Andy wants to expand on it more, then I'll let him do that.' He did say that Farrell wants a collaborative approach. 'Faz has said straight away that he wanted it to be as connected and cohesive as possible. So, everything's put on the table, really discussed and then try and come up with the best solution and the best help for the lads. 'Obviously, we've got our little individual responsibilities that you'll come up with and check in with each other, but I'm enjoying it immensely, how connected it is and how much we're trying to help each other and learn. So, it's definitely been a fun part so far.' Lions out-half Finn Russell with Wigglesworth. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Whatever the job roles, there is plenty of coaching acumen in this Lions staff. This is Farrell's third tour and he has massive experience from his time as an England assistant coach, Ireland assistant, and as a Grand Slam-winning Irish boss. Easterby has been Ireland forwards and defence coach at different stages over the past decade or so and is just coming off a season as the national team's head coach. Fogarty has been with Ireland for some major successes since joining in 2020, having worked with Leinster before that. Goodman also worked with the eastern province before joining Ireland last year, having come through the New Zealand coaching ranks. Related Reads Three Irish players start for Lions as Furlong returns on bench Argentina name team for Dublin meeting with Lions Dalziel is a former Scotland U20s and Scotland 7s boss who has been Gregor Townsend's forwards coach with the senior Scotland team since 2020. And Wigglesworth helped Leicester to a Premiership title alongside Steve Borthwick before joining him in the England set-up in 2023. All of those backgrounds and experiences are leading to some fascinating coaching chats. 'Definitely, from our perspective of learning from all the different coaches and the little things that you see differently, all incredibly interesting on the back of it,' said Wigglesworth. 'So I've been absolutely loving that part of it.' There's no doubt Wigglesworth and Dalziel will go back to England and Scotland camps after this tour with a much deeper knowledge of how Farrell and co. like to do things with Ireland. But Wigglesworth said he hasn't been looking for any trade secrets. 'They've been pretty successful, haven't they? So I've not been drilling them too much on what they do or don't do.'
RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Bernard Jackman: Andy Farrell has skills to deal with any 'Irish bias' claims within Lions squad
Bernard Jackman believes Andy Farrell's "biggest challenge" will be to allay any perception of partiality towards the Ireland contingent in his British and Irish Lions squad as they prepare for Friday's tour opener against Argentina at Aviva Stadium, but backs the head coach to have the man-management skills to smooth over any issues. The Englishman has led Ireland to two Six Nations titles, including the 2023 Grand Slam, and his trust in players from this nation is reflected by their dominance in both the squad selection and staff make-up for the upcoming tour to Australia. Finlay Bealham's call-up in place of the injured Scotland tighthead Zander Fagerson has brought the contingent of Ireland players to 16, with England (13), Scotland (8) and Wales (2) rounding out the 39-strong travelling party A good chunk of that Irish number will have a strong case to start the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on 19 July and speaking on RTÉ 2fm's Game On, Jackman said picking a Lions team would be quite distinct from the challenge of navigating Ireland team selection. "I think it's going to be the biggest challenge Andy Farrell is going to have is that there is never a peep out of anybody who's not picked for Ireland in Ireland because there's a sense of he's very fair and he's very good at explaining why players aren't picked and giving them areas they need to improve upon," he said. "But that's a little bit different because there's a hierarchy there, so players earn their stripes, there's very little turnover in the Irish squad because the team tend to win, players perform well. "So the guys who are the non-23, they don't really have a great case because they're not tried and tested internationals." The task of picking a Lions XI would be much different considering the players in the squad are the cream of the crop of their respective nations. "Whereas here, you're going to leave out fellas who are superstars in their own country or superstars in their club and have a big reputation and maybe have big egos," Jackman continued. "And if they feel that there's a bias towards Irish players, that could be difficult. I think Farrell has the man-management skills to deal with that. "But he has given them a definite argument by how many Irish players, coaches and backroom staff - Gary Keegan, the mental skills coach was added this week, the head of S&C (and) head of performance is Irish, the head analyst is Irish - so there is a big Irish influence. "But honestly, if anyone can do it, Farrell can do it. But certainly if it becomes clear quite early that he's going to pick more Irish players and (if) they haven't earned the right, that's the challenge. "The pressure is now on his Irish players to show they're better and I think if they do that, it'll be okay. "But if there are a lot of marginal calls (that) go towards the Irish players, there could be a bit of disharmony and we've seen that disrupt and destroy Lions tours in the past."
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Tommy Freeman reveals why he's excited to embrace free-roaming Lions role under Andy Farrell
TOMMY FREEMAN is ready to relish the roaming role handed to him by Andy Farrell. Freeman will make his 2 Andy Farrell's Lions face Argentina on Friday night in Dublin before jetting off to Australia 2 British and Irish Lions' Tommy Freeman starts on the wing at Aviva on Friday The Northampton Saints player has been rewarded for a season which saw him help his club reach the Champions Cup decider, bagging a hat-trick in the semi-final win over That was after he had become the first England player to score in every round of the Six Nations. And Freeman believes the style of play Freeman said: "Without giving away too much, hopefully we're going to see a lot of tries and instinctive playing. READ MORE ON RUGBY 'We're not going to be there to set stuff up and go through phases for the sake of going through phases. 'We want to score off the back of anything we can. The guys we've got in the backline, there are threats people have to offer and the ballplayers can put us in those spaces. It's going to be a lot of fun and dangerous, I think. 'It's rugby at the end of the day and it's about finding space and seeing opportunity. If you see the opportunity, you call it and you get the ball there. We'll be measured on that. 'We don't want to be missing phases and getting there one phase too late. We want to be playing heads-up rugby. Most read in Rugby Union 'You've got the set-piece and some structure, but outside of that it's about seeing space and doing what you can to put pressure on.' The 24-year-old reckons the biggest challenge is learning the vocabulary, with different names for the same calls that he might already be used to for club and country. 'Big weekend' - Peter O'Mahony embarking on hectic gardening project as he aims to add '300 plants' And being asked to contribute in-field by Farrell is not much of an adaptation for Freeman. He said: 'He's very clear, very precise with his messaging. He's been awesome. He's been a massive deciding factor in how quickly we've learned and how we want to play the game. He's been brilliant and easy to work with. 'I think that's the way I play anyway but I also think it's the way a winger has to be these days. 'You don't want wingers staying on the wing and going quiet for phases of games. You want them popping up to inject a bit of pace and power and create that extra number. 'If you're standing on your wing and being a bit lazy, that's where you miss some opportunities.' Assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth admitted there would be some benefits to having nine England players in the starting XV LION HEARTS But he stressed: 'This is a whole new calling system, it is the Lions way of playing so cohesion will take time in the Lions environment 'But you know Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman have a great connection in terms of finding each other and knowing where each other are but that is in Northampton and England, this is Lions. "We want them to find a connection quickly in a Lions shirt.' And Wigglesworth dismissed Aki is from New Zealand and Tupulotu from Australia and are two of seven players in the squad who are playing for Ireland or Scotland through residency. Wigglesworth said: 'Everyone has earned the right to pull on the Lions jersey. They are, to a man, incredibly proud to be here, 'It is not your background or how you have got here, it is what sort of player are you and what sort of man you are, and we have got great men and great players.' The game is sold out with remaining tickets - the cheapest of which was €148 - snapped up yesterday. Quizzed about the cost, Wigglesworth said: " I've got my hands full with that without getting involved in ticket prices 'All I know is that everyone you talk to, whether they're friends, family or strangers on the street, is incredibly excited about the Lions playing here in Dublin.'
