*Tony Butler, Conor Moloney and Ethan Coughlan.
A FIRST was recorded on Sunday with three Clare men taking to the field at the one time for Munster in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Conor Moloney, Tony Butler and Ethan Coughlan, all former Ennis RFC underage stars were introduced in the final ten minutes of Munster’s 35-14 bonus point win against Wasps in Pool B of the Heinken Champions Cup.
Their contributions were part of a gritty win that was achieved against the odds and one in which captain Peter O’Mahony said ranked among the best of his career. He admitted that their experienced players were inspired by the approach of the younger guns like the Clare trio over the past fortnight, “That’s an incredible feat for the guys who played for Munster for the first time, never mind their first European game.”
Munster arrived in the English West Midlands minus 34 players with 12 new faces in their match-day 23, none of their senior coaching team were in attendance and yet managed to produce yet another memorable European win.
In all, twelve debutants made their bow for the Province, five from the start and seven others during the course of the game. The nature of the win was made all the more impressive given the amount of their panel and set-up that remained in quarantine following their ill-fated trip to South Africa.
Kildysart’s Moloney was introduced for Eoin O’Connor in the second row on seventy one minutes, the arrival of Butler from Barefield followed on seventy five minutes with the out-half replacing Joey Carberry who was injured after a poor tackle by Robin Hislop.
Coughlan, also of Barefield completed the trio of Clare men on the field when he took to the field as Conor Murray made way on seventy seven minutes at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Ennis RFC in a proud post on social media noted that it was “great to see in their red” of the three prospects as Butler, Moloney and Coughlan posed for a picture outside the stadium. They are the first Ennis RFC players to represent the province in the professional era.
They re-establish a link with Clare and Munster’s top team that was last experienced when the late Anthony Foley was head coach up until his untimely death in October 2016. Fellow Killaloe man Damien Varley lined out as a hooker with Munster and captained the side in the 2013-14 Heinken Cup but was forced to retire in February 2015. Ex Irish captain, Keith Wood, also from Killaloe was part of Munster’s front row during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Subsequent to Wood, Clonlara’s Marcus Horan made 225 appearances for Munster from 1999 to 2013.
