Andrew Smith is among seven players leaving. Tom O’Hanlon/INPHO

Munster Rugby confirm seven departures

Four senior players and academy trio moving on this summer.

MUNSTER RUGBY HAVE confirmed that seven players will depart the province this summer. 

Senior players Tony Butler, Fionn Gibbons, Paddy Patterson and Andrew Smith, and academy trio George Hadden, Darragh McSweeney and Dylan Hick, will all move on. 

“A big thanks to Tony, Fionn, Paddy, Andrew, George, Darragh and Dylan for their contributions to Munster Rugby and we wish them all the best for the future,” a statement reads.

Out-half Butler scored 76 points in 28 appearances for Munster over his three years in the academy and two years in the senior squad.

A fellow 2022 Grand Slam winner with the Ireland U20s, Gibbons made three senior appearances for the province after joining the academy in 2022 and moving up to the senior squad for last season. 

Patterson scored five tries in 51 appearances, having joined from the Leinster academy in January 2021. The scrum-half was particularly influential in the URC title-winning season of 2022/23.

Smith bagged four tries in 11 appearances – including in Champions Cup action – since signing from Connacht in March of last year. An Olympian with the Irish Sevens team in Paris, Smith scored one try in seven appearances this campaign.

All former Ireland U20s, Hadden and McSweeney were academy props, while Hicks played at out-half.

Munster say that full details on the squad that will begin pre-season will be released in the coming weeks.

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