SCRUM-HALF NICK McCarthy is set to leave Munster and re-join his native Leinster ahead of next season.
The 25-year-old has been with Munster since 2019 but The42 understands that McCarthy is in line to return to Leinster this summer.
The former Ireland U20 international first broke into Leinster’s senior set-up in the 2015/16 season and went on to make 36 appearances for the province, including an appearance in the 2019 Pro14 final win over Glasgow.
However, McCarthy opted for a move to Munster that summer and has spent the last two seasons as part of Johann van Graan’s squad.
Opportunities haven’t been regular, with McCarthy making just six starts in his time with the province so far, but it’s understood that he was offered a contract extension by Munster.
McCarthy is instead set to opt for a return to Leinster ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
Luke McGrath and Jamison Gibson-Park are the two frontline scrum-halves in Leinster, with the latter currently part of Ireland’s Six Nations squad.
Hugh O’Sullivan and Rowan Osborne are also in Leinster’s senior squad, while their academy includes Paddy Patterson – who is on loan with Munster at the moment – and Cormac Foley.
McCarthy is now set to back himself for a return to his native province as he looks for increased game time.
With Conor Murray and Craig Casey away in Ireland camp, St Michael’s College product McCarthy started at scrum-half for Munster yesterday against Benetton and delivered a superb pass for JJ Hanrahan’s dramatic winning drop goal.
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)