WITH ALMOST AN hour played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, Fineen Wycherley’s moment arrived. Running a smart line, the lock latched onto a clever Craig Casey pass to run through for Munster’s fourth try against Racing 92, pushing the province into a 28-18 lead.
As Wycherley celebrated a rare try – his 10th for Munster in over 150 games – young brother Josh was the first teammate on the scene. A special moment for the Bantry brothers.
“Josh was delighted alright,” says Fineen.
“It was a nice moment. We had a lovely crew that came up from West Cork. So we had my older brother and his three kids. Saoirse was down from Limerick, and then we had my mum and dad, the whole crew.
Wycherley celebrates his try with his brother, Josh. Dan Clohessy
Dan Clohessy
“Those games in Cork are always good. A good few people from Bantry text me saying that they were going up. So I think there was a West Cork contingent who went up.”
Getting to Thomond Park isn’t easy for many of the province’s supporters, so it’s important Munster make the most of their days out in Cork. Wycherley knows that as well as anyone, given his own experience as a kid making the long trek from West Cork to Limerick.
“Yeah, 100%. Obviously, Munster is a big province, and in general Cork is a big county, and people don’t realise how difficult it is to get to the games in Limerick, especially for people that are from West Kerry and West Cork and those kind of parts.
“For us, growing up, it would have been a two-and-a-half, three-hour journey, and it’s not easy for people if there’s a late game on a Saturday night to get to those games.
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“I definitely think sharing the load between both counties is very important, and I think, if anything, we should see it as a positive in the province, to be able to give other parts of the province an opportunity to go and watch big games.”
This weekend Munster head to Dublin to play Leinster. It’s a rivalry the young Wycherleys were heavily invested in growing up.
“Yeah, when we were younger we used to go to a lot of games, especially the ones in Thomond Park as a family.
“There’s obviously five boys in my house and then there’s the two girls. So Dad used to take the five of us up, and we’d get into a terrace ticket in Thomond Park and watch a load of the games down through the years.
“Getting an opportunity to play in them is unbelievably special. Look, unfortunately we’ve been on the wrong side of a couple of results over the last couple of years. But when you do get a good result against them, it’s unbelievably special, definitely.”
His first interpro against Leinster as a Munster player was one of the more memorable meetings with the eastern province.
“I suppose the first one that sticks out the most is probably my first start against them in Thomond Park. When (Keith) Earlsly got the intercept try to seal the win. It was probably the loudest I played up to that point in my career, it was definitely the loudest roar that I’ve ever heard.”
And he knows what question is coming next. Of course, that December 2018 game is also remembered for Wycherley tangling with Johnny Sexton.
'Fáilte chuig @thomondstadium' - Ní raibh Johnny Sexton sásta le Fineen Wycherley anseo!
#MUNvLEI
@Munsterrugby forward Fineen Wycherley welcomes @leinsterrugby captain to Thomonmd Park!
@PRO14Official ar @TG4TV https://t.co/ns1zYqmkp4
“It was a mental rollercoaster of a game, but it was good. Lots of emotions, not really much thinking to be honest at that age, it’s more you’re just doing really.
“It was only afterwards, when I got into the Thomond suite, people were showing me pictures and stuff like that. It was mental enough at that age.
“And then when I got an opportunity to go into (Ireland) camp after that, and he was in camp, and in fairness, he broke the ice straight away, and shook my hand and had a laugh about it. He was just saying, ‘Thank God we’re on the same team now’ or something like that. Made a joke about it.
“There were never any issues after that. He broke the ice, and in fairness, he came straight over to me and just kind of laughed it off, and made it easy for me. We just got on with it, because obviously I was nervous going into camp and stuff, in general, and he made it unbelievably easy for me.”
Last season Munster went to Dublin and pulled off a brilliant win in Croke Park. This time around, Leinster look in much better shape, with their internationals up and running and fresh from a seven-try win in Clermont Auvergne.
Yet Munster are also making encouraging progress in Clayton McMillan’s second season. There have been some positive signs in the attack, but perhaps the most pleasing development has been the performances of the Munster pack, with the set-piece proving a source of strength for the province across the opening weeks of the season.
The Cork native has played over 150 games for Munster. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“Look, we worked on it a lot over the summer, and it was definitely something that at times last year we weren’t overly happy with, just with our, I suppose, dominance on the opposition when it came to set-piece.
“We made no qualms about it when we came back in. We wanted to be better at that, and from the word go, like in the first day of pre-season, we’ve been working on it. I think, look, it doesn’t always go your way, but over the last couple of weeks we’ve found a way to break down the opposition, which has been positive.
“I think probably you can see across all competitions now, the amount of times people are going to the maul, the amount of times people are going to scrums looking for penalties.
“It is a massive area that we needed to be better at. I think, look, we’ve taken steps in the right direction, but we can always be better.
“One of the biggest things that we need to work on is probably just being a bit more consistent at it throughout the whole 80 minutes. We have definitely been better at that, but we just need to keep it going.”
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Fineen Wycherley on a special moment in the Páirc and his Leinster memories
WITH ALMOST AN hour played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, Fineen Wycherley’s moment arrived. Running a smart line, the lock latched onto a clever Craig Casey pass to run through for Munster’s fourth try against Racing 92, pushing the province into a 28-18 lead.
As Wycherley celebrated a rare try – his 10th for Munster in over 150 games – young brother Josh was the first teammate on the scene. A special moment for the Bantry brothers.
“Josh was delighted alright,” says Fineen.
“It was a nice moment. We had a lovely crew that came up from West Cork. So we had my older brother and his three kids. Saoirse was down from Limerick, and then we had my mum and dad, the whole crew.
“Those games in Cork are always good. A good few people from Bantry text me saying that they were going up. So I think there was a West Cork contingent who went up.”
Getting to Thomond Park isn’t easy for many of the province’s supporters, so it’s important Munster make the most of their days out in Cork. Wycherley knows that as well as anyone, given his own experience as a kid making the long trek from West Cork to Limerick.
“Yeah, 100%. Obviously, Munster is a big province, and in general Cork is a big county, and people don’t realise how difficult it is to get to the games in Limerick, especially for people that are from West Kerry and West Cork and those kind of parts.
“For us, growing up, it would have been a two-and-a-half, three-hour journey, and it’s not easy for people if there’s a late game on a Saturday night to get to those games.
“I definitely think sharing the load between both counties is very important, and I think, if anything, we should see it as a positive in the province, to be able to give other parts of the province an opportunity to go and watch big games.”
This weekend Munster head to Dublin to play Leinster. It’s a rivalry the young Wycherleys were heavily invested in growing up.
“Yeah, when we were younger we used to go to a lot of games, especially the ones in Thomond Park as a family.
“Getting an opportunity to play in them is unbelievably special. Look, unfortunately we’ve been on the wrong side of a couple of results over the last couple of years. But when you do get a good result against them, it’s unbelievably special, definitely.”
His first interpro against Leinster as a Munster player was one of the more memorable meetings with the eastern province.
“I suppose the first one that sticks out the most is probably my first start against them in Thomond Park. When (Keith) Earlsly got the intercept try to seal the win. It was probably the loudest I played up to that point in my career, it was definitely the loudest roar that I’ve ever heard.”
And he knows what question is coming next. Of course, that December 2018 game is also remembered for Wycherley tangling with Johnny Sexton.
“It was a mental rollercoaster of a game, but it was good. Lots of emotions, not really much thinking to be honest at that age, it’s more you’re just doing really.
“It was only afterwards, when I got into the Thomond suite, people were showing me pictures and stuff like that. It was mental enough at that age.
“And then when I got an opportunity to go into (Ireland) camp after that, and he was in camp, and in fairness, he broke the ice straight away, and shook my hand and had a laugh about it. He was just saying, ‘Thank God we’re on the same team now’ or something like that. Made a joke about it.
“There were never any issues after that. He broke the ice, and in fairness, he came straight over to me and just kind of laughed it off, and made it easy for me. We just got on with it, because obviously I was nervous going into camp and stuff, in general, and he made it unbelievably easy for me.”
Last season Munster went to Dublin and pulled off a brilliant win in Croke Park. This time around, Leinster look in much better shape, with their internationals up and running and fresh from a seven-try win in Clermont Auvergne.
Yet Munster are also making encouraging progress in Clayton McMillan’s second season. There have been some positive signs in the attack, but perhaps the most pleasing development has been the performances of the Munster pack, with the set-piece proving a source of strength for the province across the opening weeks of the season.
“Look, we worked on it a lot over the summer, and it was definitely something that at times last year we weren’t overly happy with, just with our, I suppose, dominance on the opposition when it came to set-piece.
“We made no qualms about it when we came back in. We wanted to be better at that, and from the word go, like in the first day of pre-season, we’ve been working on it. I think, look, it doesn’t always go your way, but over the last couple of weeks we’ve found a way to break down the opposition, which has been positive.
“I think probably you can see across all competitions now, the amount of times people are going to the maul, the amount of times people are going to scrums looking for penalties.
“It is a massive area that we needed to be better at. I think, look, we’ve taken steps in the right direction, but we can always be better.
“One of the biggest things that we need to work on is probably just being a bit more consistent at it throughout the whole 80 minutes. We have definitely been better at that, but we just need to keep it going.”
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Fineen Wycherely locked in Munster Rugby URC