Munster Rugby confirm new contracts for three players

MUNSTER Rugby and the IRFU has confirmed new contracts for three senior squad members.

Munster Rugby and the IRFU confirmed a two-year contract extension for Mike Haley that will keep him at the province until at least 2027, while a one-year contract extension has been confirmed for back-row forward Jack O’Donoghue. 

It has also been confirmed that Ben O’Connor has signed a new contract that will see him continue as an Academy player next season before moving up to the senior squad on a two-year deal.

Full-back Mike Haley has spent the past seven years at Munster and scored 25 tries in 119 appearances since joining from Sale Sharks, where he made over 100 appearances.

He has started 117 of his 119 Munster appearances and played more minutes than any other Munster player in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 campaigns.

The 30-year-old made his Munster debut against Cheetahs in September 2018 and immediately established himself as the first choice full-back, making 26 appearances in his debut campaign and earning a first international cap for Ireland against Italy in August 2019.

He was a fixture in the starting XV over the following seasons and made 18 starts in the 2022/23 campaign as Munster won the URC title, starting the quarter-final, semi-final and Grand Final victories.

After missing the first half of the 2023/24 season as he recovered from hip surgery, Haley returned to action in February 2024 and made his 100th appearance against Ospreys in March.

Haley scored five tries in 13 starts this season before sustaining an ankle injury away to Northampton in January.

Meanwhile, two-cap Ireland international Jack O'Donoghue has scored 28 tries in 217 appearances since making his debut in 2014 and the new deal will keep him at Munster until at least 2026.

The Waterford man came up through the ranks at Waterpark RFC and won the Munster Rugby Academy Player of the Year award in 2015.

He has been a key member of the squad for the past 10 years, featuring heavily in his first season as a senior player in 2015/16, appearing in 26 of the 28 competitive games and making his Ireland debut against Canada in 2016.

After earning his second Ireland cap against Japan in 2017, O’Donoghue became the first Waterford player to captain Munster in the professional era away to Cardiff in 2018.

O’Donoghue made his 100th Munster appearance against Leinster in May 2019 after recovering from a long-term knee injury.

He was named Munster Rugby Player of the Year in 2021/22 after another standout campaign that saw him feature in 23 of the 26 games and clock up more minutes on the field than any other player (1,638).

Another stellar season in 2022/23 saw O’Donoghue make 23 appearances as Munster won the URC title.

At the age of just 30, he became the youngest-ever player to reach the 200-cap landmark for Munster away to Edinburgh in May 2024.

He turned 31 last month and has made 14 appearances so far this season but is currently sidelined due to an ankle injury sustained against Scarlets last month.

Meanwhile, Ben O'Connor has signed a development contract for 2026/27 and will progress to a senior deal for the 2027/28 campaign.

The 20-year-old has scored two tries in 10 appearances since joining the Academy in 2023.

A talented sportsman, O’Connor has won two All-Ireland medals with the Cork hurlers – at minor level in 2021 and U20 level in 2023.

He flourished at PBC and played a leading role as they won the 2023 Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup.

He made his Munster debut within months of joining the Academy against Dragons in November 2023 and made his Champions Cup debut against Bayonne a month later.

O’Connor started all five of Ireland’s matches during their unbeaten U20s Six Nations campaign in 2024.

He was also part of the Ireland squad selected for the U20s World Championship in South Africa, where he started in the back three for every fixture.

He lined out for Emerging Ireland in South Africa earlier this season and has scored two tries in five appearances for Munster this season.

Five Academy players have been confirmed so far to be moving up to the senior squad next season: Fionn Gibbons, Shay McCarthy, Evan O’Connell, Ruadhán Quinn and Kieran Ryan.