MUNSTER HAVE CONFIRMED three new additions to their Rugby Academy, including two notable young GAA stars from Cork and Clare.

Out-half Tony Butler and back three player Patrick Campbell both featured at minor inter-county level in 2019, while lock Edwin Edogbo is the third recruit.

The three players have all featured in the All-Ireland league this season while Butler and Campbell made their Munster A debuts against Connacht last Friday.

That duo caught the eye in the GAA ranks with their displays in recent times.

Butler hurled for the St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield GAA club and started for Clare in the 2019 Munster minor final, when they lost out to Limerick. In March 2020 he also played at wing-back and helped St Flannan’s (Ennis) win their first Dr Harty Cup title in 15 years.

Campbell played football for Nemo Rangers and excelled in 2019 at full-forward as Cork won the All-Ireland minor title with a dramatic extra-time success over Galway in the final.

Patrick Campbell in action for Young Munster.

Tony Butler in action for Munster. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

In their rugby careers, Butler and Campbell are products of Ennis RFC and PBC (Presentation Brothers College) respectively. Butler studies Construction Management and Engineering in UL, while he has been in action for Garryowen this season in the AIL, scoring 40 points in four games.

Campbell helped PBC reach the final of the 2020 Munster Schools Senior Cup, a Law and Accounting student at UL, he plays his AIL rugby with Young Munster at full-back.

Edogbo, an 18-year-old who came up through the ranks at Cobh Pirates RFC, becomes the first player from the east Cork club to earn a place in the Academy. He featured in 2019 for the Munster U18 clubs team, along with the Ireland U18 clubs and schools side.

He featured for UCC, where he studies Engineering, in the early rounds of the AIL season but is set for a spell on the sidelines currently due to that injury.

Greencore Munster Rugby Academy 2021-22

Year Three

• Paddy Kelly (Lock/Garryowen)

• Eoin O’Connor (Lock/Young Munster)

• Paddy Patterson (Scrum-half/UCD)

• Jonathan Wren (Back three/Cork Constitution)

Year Two

• Scott Buckley (Hooker/UCC)

• Cian Hurley (Lock/Garryowen)

• Alex Kendellen (Back-row forward/UCC)

• Conor Phillips (Winger/Young Munster)

Year One

• Tony Butler (Out-half/Garryowen)

• Patrick Campbell (Back three/Young Munster)

• Ethan Coughlan (Scrum-half/Shannon)

• Mark Donnelly (Prop/Garryowen)

• Edwin Edogbo (Lock/UCC)

• Daniel Okeke (Back-row forward/Shannon)