SHAY MCCARTHY MIGHT have taken a very different route to professional sport had he made it to a trial with Brighton and Hove Albion as a teenager.
The Munster winger was 15 when he was due to travel to England for an opportunity with the Premier League club. Instead, he broke his ankle before the trial.
It was a sliding doors moment for the Limerick native, who was playing soccer with Fairview Rangers and the LDSL, winning twice at All-Ireland level. He was asked to join Limerick FC, but ultimately decided to give the Airtricity League a swerve because rugby was the sport he wanted to pursue.
“When I was younger, I never even imagined playing for Munster,” he recalled. “I always wanted to be a soccer player. But I do love rugby, and when I got the chance to come in first, I was over the moon, obviously. Yeah, just very grateful.”
Rugby had been his first sporting love. McCarthy began playing when he was five, before gradually taking up other sports. He even played Gaelic football with his local club, St Patrick’s, alongside Limerick hurling star Gearóid Hegarty.
“He’s an unbelievable hurler, but he’s pretty handy at football as well,” smiled McCarthy. “I played all sports. I played soccer, I played hurling, I played Gaelic football, and then you can only sacrifice so many nights a week to whatever.
“I got older and just decided rugby was what I enjoyed doing most. So I stuck at it.”
Now 23, McCarthy believes that experience across different disciplines has helped shape him as a player.
“Yeah, 100 percent. You can see the correlation from the other sports into rugby now. Kicking the ball, catching high balls – they’re things you get from soccer, kind of football. So it is a big part of playing multi-sports, I think.”
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Munster's Shay McCarthy and Leinster's Jimmy O'Brien contest for a high ball. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
McCarthy is enjoying an extended run in the team after only one appearance off the bench last season, as opposed to nine in the 2024/25 campaign and six the following term.
Clayton McMillan started him against the Bulls and he has remained in the team since – Saturday’s home fixture against the Sharks is expected to be McCarthy’s fifth game in succession.
His start against Racing 92 was only his second Champions Cup appearance in three years.
“Yeah, look, I decided to get myself back in there,” he said. “I didn’t get as many opportunities last year as I would have liked, but, yeah, it’s just taking it now, taking chances as I get them.
“In terms of the team and how it’s gone, look, we’ve performed well. We’ve been narrowly beaten last week by Leinster and had a great performance against the Bulls, and the lads narrowly lost against Glasgow the first week as well.
“So, look, I think we’re improving. We’ve played some very, very good teams and you can’t really deny how good we’ve been.”
Shay McCarthy scores a try against Racing 92 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
McCarthy’s opportunities last season came almost exclusively through playing AIL rugby with Young Munster. “AIL’s great,” he said. “It’s good going back, and there’s a number of us going back every week to play club rugby,” he said.
“I think it’s important that the lads are playing it because it gets your physicality up and the speed of the game is all improving.”
However, now he’s seizing his Munster chance and McCarthy believes that the attacking approach under Jared Payne and Mossy Lawler has been of real benefit.
Increased opportunities to get on the ball have made Munster a more exciting team to watch, while also allowing him to show more of his own game.
“As wingers, we’re getting the ball a lot more. We’re getting a lot more touches on it in the game, and I hope everyone can see it at home,” he said. “It’s very exciting to watch in comparison to the last few years.”
Shay McCarthy at Munster training. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
McCarthy’s increased contribution was evident in Munster’s recent defeat to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium, where a couple of jackal turnovers and an offload for Alex Nankivell helped keep his side in the contest as they chased a losing bonus point.
“You don’t want me standing on the wing, you get cold,” he smiled. “You want to get out there, you want to get your hands on the ball, you want to have some sort of influence on the game.
“So I always look to get in, get my hands on the ball, show it off, wherever it’s available to me.”
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Shay McCarthy: Missing a Brighton trial, hurling with Gearóid Hegarty, and the benefits of AIL rugby
SHAY MCCARTHY MIGHT have taken a very different route to professional sport had he made it to a trial with Brighton and Hove Albion as a teenager.
The Munster winger was 15 when he was due to travel to England for an opportunity with the Premier League club. Instead, he broke his ankle before the trial.
It was a sliding doors moment for the Limerick native, who was playing soccer with Fairview Rangers and the LDSL, winning twice at All-Ireland level. He was asked to join Limerick FC, but ultimately decided to give the Airtricity League a swerve because rugby was the sport he wanted to pursue.
“When I was younger, I never even imagined playing for Munster,” he recalled. “I always wanted to be a soccer player. But I do love rugby, and when I got the chance to come in first, I was over the moon, obviously. Yeah, just very grateful.”
Rugby had been his first sporting love. McCarthy began playing when he was five, before gradually taking up other sports. He even played Gaelic football with his local club, St Patrick’s, alongside Limerick hurling star Gearóid Hegarty.
“He’s an unbelievable hurler, but he’s pretty handy at football as well,” smiled McCarthy. “I played all sports. I played soccer, I played hurling, I played Gaelic football, and then you can only sacrifice so many nights a week to whatever.
Now 23, McCarthy believes that experience across different disciplines has helped shape him as a player.
“Yeah, 100 percent. You can see the correlation from the other sports into rugby now. Kicking the ball, catching high balls – they’re things you get from soccer, kind of football. So it is a big part of playing multi-sports, I think.”
McCarthy is enjoying an extended run in the team after only one appearance off the bench last season, as opposed to nine in the 2024/25 campaign and six the following term.
Clayton McMillan started him against the Bulls and he has remained in the team since – Saturday’s home fixture against the Sharks is expected to be McCarthy’s fifth game in succession.
His start against Racing 92 was only his second Champions Cup appearance in three years.
“Yeah, look, I decided to get myself back in there,” he said. “I didn’t get as many opportunities last year as I would have liked, but, yeah, it’s just taking it now, taking chances as I get them.
“In terms of the team and how it’s gone, look, we’ve performed well. We’ve been narrowly beaten last week by Leinster and had a great performance against the Bulls, and the lads narrowly lost against Glasgow the first week as well.
“So, look, I think we’re improving. We’ve played some very, very good teams and you can’t really deny how good we’ve been.”
McCarthy’s opportunities last season came almost exclusively through playing AIL rugby with Young Munster. “AIL’s great,” he said. “It’s good going back, and there’s a number of us going back every week to play club rugby,” he said.
However, now he’s seizing his Munster chance and McCarthy believes that the attacking approach under Jared Payne and Mossy Lawler has been of real benefit.
Increased opportunities to get on the ball have made Munster a more exciting team to watch, while also allowing him to show more of his own game.
“As wingers, we’re getting the ball a lot more. We’re getting a lot more touches on it in the game, and I hope everyone can see it at home,” he said. “It’s very exciting to watch in comparison to the last few years.”
McCarthy’s increased contribution was evident in Munster’s recent defeat to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium, where a couple of jackal turnovers and an offload for Alex Nankivell helped keep his side in the contest as they chased a losing bonus point.
“You don’t want me standing on the wing, you get cold,” he smiled. “You want to get out there, you want to get your hands on the ball, you want to have some sort of influence on the game.
“So I always look to get in, get my hands on the ball, show it off, wherever it’s available to me.”
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