GRAHAM ROWNTREE has included Clare men in his Munster squad for Saturday’s URC third round tie against the Dragons.
By Adam Maloney
Barefield’s Tony Butler starts at out-half with Killaloe’s Ruadhán Quinn listed among the substitutes.
Twenty one year old Butler, a former Ennis RFC player gets his first competitive start for the province following a positive pre-season which included a notable start against Leinster in Musgrave Park.
Now a registered player for Young Munster, Tony will be hoping to make his mark in his third year as a Munster Academy member, his first outing coming in the European Rugby Champions Cup in December 2021, where Butler made an eight minute cameo against Wasps.
Quinn an Irish U20 star is among the substitutes. The Killaloe native is also preparing for his first competitive start this season, coming after his U-20 World Cup campaign in South Africa, where the Irish side came up short in the Final.
He made his Munster debut against Zebre Parma in Musgrave Park in October 2022. The 20-year old Back Row, played his underage rugby at Killaloe/Ballina RFC and is now a registered Young Munster man.
Butler and Quinn will now keep the Clare trend going within the Munster squad as they follow up on Ethan Coughlan’s consecutive starts at scrum-half whilst scoring a late try against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in the first round.
Munster: Shane Daly; Seán O’Brien, Alex Nankivell, Rory Scannell, Calvin Nash; Tony Butler, Craig Casey; Kieran Ryan, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Edwin Edogbo, Tom Ahern; Jack O’Donoghue (C), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Mark Donnelly, Stephen Archer, Ruadhán Quinn, Brian Gleeson, Paddy Patterson, Jack Crowley, Ben O’Connor.
