The 2018–19 Munster Rugby season was Munster's eighteenth season competing in the Pro14, alongside which they also competed in the European Rugby Champions Cup. It was Johann van Graan's second season as head coach and his first full season in the role, having joined partway through the previous season.[2]
Events
Munster played two pre-season fixtures ahead of the 2018–19 campaign, the first against London Irish, whose directory of rugby is former Munster and Ireland head coach Declan Kidney, and the second against Exeter Chiefs, which was the first meeting between the two clubs.[3] Munster beat London Irish 32–28, but lost 12–0 against Exeter Chiefs.[4][5]
In the December 2018 back-to-back Champions Cup fixtures against Castres, Munster won 30–5 in round 3 on 9 December, with tries from Rory Scannell, CJ Stander and JJ Hanrahan, who also scored 15 points off the kicking tee. In the return leg away to Castres on 15 December, the French side won 13–12, with Joey Carbery scoring all of Munster's points from penalties.[12][13] In round 5 of the Champions Cup, Munster beat Gloucester 41–15 away from home on 11 January 2019, with the tries coming from Joey Carbery (2), Rory Scannell, Keith Earls and Andrew Conway and 16 points of the kicking tee from Carbery.[14] In round 6, Munster beat Exeter Chiefs 9–7 in Thomond Park on 19 January 2019 to advance to a record 18th Champions Cup quarter-final. Joey Carbery scored all of Munster's points from penalties in a closely fought, physical game.[15] Munster defeated Edinburgh 17–13 in their quarter-final in Murrayfield Stadium on 30 March 2019 to advance to a 14th Champions Cup semi-final,[16] which Munster lost 32–16 to Saracens in the Ricoh Arena on 20 April 2019.[17]
Munster finished second in conference A in the 2018–19 Pro14 season, with 21 wins and 5 defeats,[18] and beat Italian side Benetton 15–13 in their quarter-final on 4 May 2019, to secure a semi-final against provincial rivals Leinster in the RDS on 18 May 2019.[19] which Leinster won 24–9, bringing to an end Munster's 2018–19 season.[20] During the season, Munster played 31 games, winning 22, losing 8 and drawing 1. The province scored 790 points, including 99 tries, in total, and had the best defensive record during the regular Pro14 season and Champions Cup pool stage, conceding an average of 12 points a game in the latter. In attack, Munster were the third highest try-scorers in the regular Pro14 season with 82 tries in 21 games.
Munster were unbeaten at home all season, winning 10 games in Thomond Park and 4 in Irish Independent Park, and featured in their 18th Champions Cup quarter-final and 14th semi-final, extending records for both. 55 players were used in total throughout the season across all competitions, with 37 of those having followed the Munster pathway into the professional game. 11 players made their debuts for the province: Tadhg Beirne, Arno Botha, Joey Carbery, Mike Haley and Alby Mathewson, as well as 6 academy players: Diarmuid Barron, Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes, Liam Coombes, Shane Daly and Alex McHenry. Stalwart in the second row Billy Holland became the 10th player to win 200 caps for the province, whilst Andrew Conway, JJ Hanrahan, Jack O'Donoghue and Rory Scannell all won their 100th caps for Munster, with Scannell becoming the youngest player to do at the age of 25. Mike Haley played more minutes than any other player during the season, racking up 1,876 in 26 starts.
There were 6 sell-out attendances during the season at Thomond Park and Irish Independent Park, with all 4 games at the latter selling-out for the first time. Attendance increased by 15% across the season, with a 10% rise in ticket sales. All 3 of Munster's home Champions Cup pool fixtures were the highest attendance for their respective rounds.[21]
Munster player movements for the 2018–19 season. For a full list, see List of 2018–19 Pro14 transfers. (Player's name in italics indicates a transfer that took place during the course of the season)
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order -[44]
number of matches won
the difference between points for and points against
the number of tries scored
the most points scored
the difference between tries for and tries against
the fewest red cards received
the fewest yellow cards received
Green background indicates teams that compete in the Pro14 play-offs, and also earn a place in the 2019–20 European Champions Cup (excluding South African teams who are ineligible) Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places that earn a place in the 2019–20 European Champions Cup Yellow background indicates the loser of the play-off between the two fourth-ranked European teams in each conference, that earned a place in the 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
(CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. (QF) Losing quarter-finalists. (PO) Champions Cup play-off winners.