Munster Rugby

2025–26 season
Head coach	Clayton McMillan
Chief executive	Ian Flanagan[1]
Top try scorer	All:Michael Milne - 2
Top points scorer	All:Jack Crowley - 20
Highest home attendance	12,066
Lowest home attendance	8,800
Average home attendance	10,433
Home colours Away colours Third colours
←2024–25 2026–27 →

The2025–26 season isMunster Rugby'sfifth season in theUnited Rugby Championship, and their 138th season of representative rugby since their foundation. Along with competing in the URC and itsIrish Shield competition, the club will also participate in the2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup, their 32nd season of European and professional competition.

For the first time, Munster will bring a competitive in-season fixture to the 45,000 capacityPáirc Uí Chaoimh, the principalGaelic Athletic Association stadium inCork, with one of the twoEuropean Rugby Champions Cup home matches designated for the venue. Munster had previously played a number of high-profile 'friendly fixtures' at the venue.^[2] Munster will become the third Irish province to bring a major competitive home fixture to a largerGAAground, Munster having played away fixtures against bothLeinster atCroke Park, andConnacht atMacHale Park, in the previous season.

Munster has appointed a new head coach for the 2025–26 season,Clayton McMillan.^[3] McMillan was previously head coach ofSuper Rugby side,The Chiefs.

Munster's men will begin their season with two pre-season friendlies against English opposition. Both ties will be reversals of upcomingEuropean Rugby Champions Cup pool matches.^[19]

5 September 2025	Gloucester	14–12	Munster	Kingsholm
19:30		Report

12 September 2025	Munster	28-28	Bath	Virgin Media Park
19:00		Report

Munster will also play a friendly match againstArgentina XV during the2025 end-of-year rugby union internationals atThomond Park.^[20]

1 November 2025	Munster	v	Argentina XV	Thomond Park
17:00

27 September 2025	Scarlets	21 – 34	Munster (1 BP)	Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
17:30	Try:Murray (48') Mee (64') Plumtree (75') Con:Costelow (49', 65') Hawkins (76')	Report	Try:Casey (10') Haley (42') D. Kelly (59') Ahern (69') Con:Hanrahan (12') Crowley (43', 60', 70') Pen: Hanrahan (23', 29')	Attendance: 9 078 Referee:Sam Grove-White

4 October 2025	Munster	23 – 20	Cardiff (2 BP)	Thomond Park, Limerick
19:45	Try:Quinn (29') Coombes (52') Barron (61') Con:Crowley (53') Pen: Crowley (67') Drop: Crowley (77')	Report	Try:J. Adams (15') Bowen (44', 57', 82')	Attendance: 12,066

10 October 2025	(1 BP)Munster	20 – 19	Edinburgh (1 BP)	Musgrave Park, Cork
19:45	Try:A. Smith (2') Milne (33', 58') F. Wycherley (72')	report	Try:Ashman (7') Vellacott (15') Graham (48') Con:Healy (16', 49') Cards: Young 28' Rae 30' Douglas 53' Graham 68'	Attendance: 8,800 Referee:Ben Whitehouse

18 October 2025	Leinster	14 – 31	Munster (1 BP)	Croke Park,Dublin
17:15	Try:Kelleher (7') Penny (79') Con:Prendergast (8', 80'+1) Cards:Frawley 77'	Report MOTM:Jack Crowley	Try:Gleeson (17') Tom Farrell (23') Coughlan (37') penalty try (76') Con:Crowley (18', 24', 38') Pen: Crowley (49') Cards:Coombes, 79'	Attendance: 51,859 Referee:Gianluca Gnecchi

25 October 2025	Munster	17 – 15	Connacht (1 BP)	Thomond Park, Limerick
19:45	Try:O'Donoghue (15' m, 67' m) Kilgallen (33' c) Con:JJ Hanrahan (33')	Report	Try:Ralston (20' m, 28' m) Boyle (42' m)	Attendance: 16,512[21] Referee:Andrea Piardi

29 November 2025	Munster	v	Stormers	Thomond Park
17:30

20 December 2025	Ospreys	v	Munster	Brewery Field
17:30

27 December 2025	Munster	v	Leinster	Thomond Park
19:45

2 January 2026	Ulster	v	Munster	Ravenhill Stadium,Belfast
19:45

23 January 2026	Munster	v	Dragons	Musgrave Park
19:45

30 January 2026	Glasgow Warriors	v	Munster	Scotstoun Stadium
19:45

28 February 2026	Munster	v	Zebre Parma	Thomond Park
17:30

21 March 2026	Sharks	v	Munster	Kings Park Stadium
15:00

28 March 2026	Bulls	v	Munster	Loftus Versfeld Stadium
12:00

18 April 2026	Benetton	v	Munster	Stadio Comunale di Monigo
19:45

25 April 2026	Munster	v	Ulster	Thomond Park
17:30

9 May 2026	Connacht	v	Munster	The Sportsground,Galway
19:45

16 May 2026	Munster	v	Lions	Thomond Park
19:45

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Stormers	5	5	0	0	157	39	+118	20	4	3	0	23	Qualifies for home URC quarter-final; Qualification for the2026–27 Champions Cup
2	Munster	5	5	0	0	125	89	+36	18	15	3	0	23
3	Glasgow Warriors	5	4	0	1	161	64	+97	22	8	3	1	20
4	Cardiff	5	4	0	1	111	87	+24	18	11	3	1	20
5	Ulster	4	3	0	1	135	103	+32	19	15	4	0	16	Qualifies for URC quarter-final; Qualification for the2026–27 Champions Cup
6	Bulls	5	3	0	2	139	147	−8	21	21	2	0	14
7	Leinster	5	2	0	3	126	136	−10	19	19	2	1	11
8	Lions	5	2	0	3	133	145	−12	18	21	2	1	11
9	Zebre Parma	5	2	0	3	92	153	−61	12	23	2	0	10	Qualification for the2026–27 Challenge Cup
10	Edinburgh	4	1	0	3	109	71	+38	17	11	2	3	9
11	Benetton	5	2	0	3	88	129	−41	10	19	1	0	9
12	Connacht	4	1	0	3	76	74	+2	12	10	2	2	8
13	Sharks	5	1	1	3	96	136	−40	14	19	2	0	8
14	Ospreys	5	1	1	3	110	140	−30	16	21	1	0	7
15	Dragons	5	0	2	3	74	151	−77	10	22	0	1	5
16	Scarlets	4	0	0	4	58	126	−68	7	17	0	0	0

2025–26 United Rugby Championship Regional Shield tables view ·watch ·edit ·discuss
Irish Shield
	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	Pts	Pos overall
1	Munster	2	2	0	0	48	29	+19	7	5	1	0	9	—
2	Connacht	1	0	0	1	15	17	-2	3	3	0	1	1	—
3	Ulster	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Leinster	1	0	0	1	14	31	-17	2	4	0	0	0	—
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[23] number of matches won the difference between points for and points against the number of tries scored the most points scored the difference between tries for and tries against the fewest red cards received the fewest yellow cards received
Green background indicates teams currently leading the regional shield. Upon the conclusion of the regular season, these teams win their respective regional shields. (S) : URC Shield champion

Munster have been drawn in Pool 2 of the European Rugby Champions Cup, along with URC colleaguesEdinburgh (whom Munster will not play in line with the rules of the competition), along withBath,Castres,Gloucester andToulon.^[24]

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Bath	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	HomeChampions Cup round of 16.
2	Castres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	AwayChampions Cup round of 16.
4	Gloucester	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Munster	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	AwayChallenge Cup round of 16.
6	Toulon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Pool matches

6 December 2025	Bath	v	Munster	Recreation Ground,Bath
20:00 UTC

13 December 2025	Munster	v	Gloucester	Pairc Ui Chaoimh,Cork
17:30 UTC

11 January 2026	Toulon	v	Munster	Stade Felix Mayol,Toulon
13:00 UTC

17 January 2026	Munster	v	Castres	Thomond Park,Limerick
17:30 UTC

The2025IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series is being contested by women's teams representing the four provincial rugby unions of Ireland, under the same branding and uniforms as the senior men's teams in theUnited Rugby Championship. The competition currently uses asingle round-robin format, similar to the one used in both theSix Nations Championship and theWomen's Six Nations Championship. Each team plays the other three teams once.^[26]

As in previous seasons the competition also featuresplayoffs and a final.^[27][28][29]

Leinster Women return as defending champions.

10 August 2025 2:30pm

(1 BP)Munster Women	44-5	Connacht Women
Try: Gráinne Burke Chisom Ugwueru (3) Aoife Corey Stephanie Nunan Kate Flannery Brianna Heylmann Con: Caitríona Finn (2/8)	Report	Try: Ava Ryder

Virgin Media Park Referee:Euan O’Riordan (IRFU)

16 August 2025 2:30pm

(1 BP)Leinster Women	22–33	Munster Women (1 BP)
Try: Vicky Elmes Kinlan Kathy Baker Molly Boyne Katie Whelan Con: Ellie O'Sullivan Sexton (1/4)	Report	Try: Chloe Pearse (2) Chisom Ugwueru Kate Flannery Aoife Corey Con: Caitríona Finn (4/5)

Donnybrook

23 August 2025 4:15 pm

Ulster Women	17 - 38	Munster Women (1 BP)
Try: Siobhán Sheerin Ciara Fitzsimons 2 Con: Siobhán Sheerin (1/3)	Report	Try: Chloe Pearse Chisom Ugwueru Caitríona Finn Maeve Óg O’Leary (2) Alana McInerney Con: Finn (4/6)

Affidea Stadium,Belfast Referee:Dermot Blake (IRFU)

Interprovincial final

30 August 2025 4:30pm

Leinster Women	15–50	Munster Women
Try: Katie Whelan (2) Vicky Elmes Kinlan	Report,2	Try: Chloe Pearse Deirbhile Nic a Bháird 2 Aoife Corey Maeve Óg O’Leary Caitríona Finn Eilís Cahill Con: Finn (6/7) Pen: Finn

Energia Park Referee:Daniel Carson (IRFU)

The2025–26 Celtic Challenge will be the fourth season of theCeltic Challenge, a cross-borderwomen's rugby union competition with teams fromIreland,Wales, andScotland. The six team tournament features a full doubleround robin fixture series, with each team playing the others both home and away. For the first time, the competition will include a finals series with semi-finals and a grand final.^[30][31]

Clovers, a combined team representing Munster and Connacht, return for a third season.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Brython Thunder	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Play-offs
2	Clovers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Edinburgh Rugby	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Glasgow Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Gwalia Lightning	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Wolfhounds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

• Munster Rugby seasons
• 2025–26 in Irish rugby union
• 2025–26 United Rugby Championship by team

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