MUNSTER HAVE OFFICIALLY confirmed the signing of Irish-qualified tighthead prop Oli Jager, with the former Crusaders man joining at the start of December on a contract that runs until the summer of 2027.
28-year-old Jager was born in London but grew up in Kildare and played with Naas RFC, Newbridge College, Blackrock College, and the Ireland U18s before moving to New Zealand after school and enjoying a remarkable rise through Kiwi rugby.
He made his debut for the Crusaders in 2017 and has been part of their incredible streak of seven consecutive Super Rugby titles. Jager had been aiming to become an All Black and nearly played for the All Blacks XV – New Zealand’s second senior national team – against Ireland A last year, only to be ruled out by injury.
The 6ft 4ins, 128kg prop has now been convinced to move back to Ireland by Munster, who had previously attempted to sign Jager when he was still chasing New Zealand honours.
They have got their man this time around, with the Crusaders granting Jager an early release from his contract in New Zealand in order to move back to Ireland, where he will hope to come into contention for a place in Andy Farrell’s national team squad.
Jager will compete with the experienced 35-year-old duo of Stephen Archer and John Ryan at tighthead in Munster, while 26-year-old Roman Salanoa is currently sidelined through injury. 24-year-old Keynan Knox is also currently part of the Munster squad.
Meanwhile, Munster have confirmed two other short-term additions to their squad, with hooker Eoghan Clarke and fullback/wing Colm Hogan signing for the province.
Clarke came through the Munster academy before joining Jersey in 2021, but the English club went into liquidation last month, meaning he was available at a time when Munster are without injured senior hookers Niall Scannell and Diarmuid Barron.
26-year-old Hogan has previously played for Munster A, as well as impressing with Trinity in the AIL and featuring for Leinster in a friendly game. He had a spell with Colomiers in the French PRO D2, as well as a recent stint with the Tasman Mako in New Zealand.
Hogan now joins Munster on a short-term deal after the recent retirements of wings Keith Earls and Andrew Conway.
