MUNSTER HAVE ANNOUNCED the signing of Irish-qualified hooker Declan Moore for the 2021/22 season.
The 24-year-old was part of the Melbourne Rebels’ squad in 2020 but didn’t feature in Super Rugby.
Moore has played most of his senior rugby for Sydney University in the Shute Shield, a club competition in Sydney.
A native of New Zealand who moved to Australia at a young age, Moore also played for the Sydney Rays in the 2019 National Rugby Championship, which was the level below Super Rugby in Australia.
Moore was previously selected to play for the Australia U20 team but injury denied him the opportunity to win a cap.
He will now continue his career in Ireland after signing a contract with Munster for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, Munster say that centre Chris Farrell is currently sidelined with an abdominal injury, with the start of the United Rugby Championship season now just two weekends away.
New signing Jason Jenkins has a shoulder injury, while hooker Kevin O’Byrne is rehabbing a leg injury and academy back three player Jonathan Wren has a thigh injury.
South African lock RG Snyman [knee] and young openside John Hodnett [Achilles tendon] are both following modified training programmes and Munster say they are “doing well.”
The southern province have also welcomed Lions pair Conor Murray and Tadhg Beirne back to their training centre this week as they start their pre-season programmes after their holiday breaks.
He’s not as disappointed as some on relation to how far off they are? They are miles off. No offence to Munster but they are an average,though very gutsy and committed side,and they have hammers Leinster twice in a row now. I do agree that they haven’t had any continuity with combinations,especially from 9-13,and hopefully when the likes of OBrien, Healy, Moore, Teo, McFadden etc come back then there will be a big improvement.
I must take the opportunity to praise Matt O’Connor for the huge improvement in Guinness Pro12 teams. Ever since he arrived at Leinster, every other team has greatly improved. Teams, that two years ago were almost brushed aside by Leinster, have now reached the heights that Leinster once inhabited alone.
Treviso have improved, Munster have improved, Edinburgh have improved, Scarlets have improved, Dragons have improved, Zebra have improved, Connacht (brilliant tonight, by the way) have improved..
In fact, they have all improved so much that Leinster has great difficulty taking on any of them.
By extension, Wasps and Harlequins have shown just how brilliant they are too due to you Matt.
I can hardly wait to see how much Castres get better when they arrive at the RDS soon. They will build statues in your image all over the town.
Matt, you have done European rugby a great service. They have all reached and surpassed Leinster this season thanks to your input at Leinster and everywhere else.
Thank you Matt and Happy New year!.
(and also to Mr Caputo, the news paper seller. Your influence on all other teams has been exceptional)