Wycherley And Ryan Pen Contract Extensions With Munster
West Cork native Fineen Wycherley is pictured in action for Munster against the All Blacks XV earlier this season ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Munster Rugby have announced contract extensions for Ireland-capped forwards Fineen Wycherley and John Ryan, ahead of Friday’s BKT United Rugby Championship clash with Edinburgh.
Wycherley was one of eight Munster players in the extended Ireland ‘A’ squad that travelled to Bristol to play their English counterparts yesterday.
A Munster debutant in 2017, he has signed a two-year contract extension with Munster, which will keep him at the province until at least 2017. He has scored eight tries in 121 senior appearances so far.
The Bantry-born lock, whose brother Josh also signed a two-year extension this month, started playing rugby at his local club, Bantry Bay RFC, and won a Leinster Schools Senior Cup with Cistercian College Roscrea in 2015.
He won the British & Irish Cup with Munster ‘A’ in 2017, during his first year in the Munster Academy, and lined out for the Ireland Under-20s in that year’s U-20 Six Nations Championship and World Rugby U-20 Championship.
The 27-year-old was honoured as the Munster Academy Player of the Year in 2018 and established himself as a key member of the senior squad in 2018/19, making 16 appearances.
He was a fixture in the squad for the following three campaigns, making 21 appearances on average per season and earning a senior Ireland cap against the USA in July 2021.
After missing a large chunk of the 2022/23 campaign with a shoulder injury, Wycherley returned at the end of January 2023 and featured prominently as Munster won the BKT United Rugby Championship title.
He earned his 100th Munster cap against Ulster in November 2023 and is currently in a rich vein of form, playing in 15 of Munster’s 16 games so far this season.
Meanwhile, tighthead prop Ryan has signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him at Munster until at least 2026.
The 24-times capped Ireland international has made 238 Munster appearances to date, scoring six tries, and is fifth on the list of the province’s most-capped players of all-time.
From Berrings in Cork, Ryan has has already made 15 appearances so far in the current campaign, helping the Munstermen to sit fifth in the URC table and qualify for the Investec Champions Cup’s round of 16.
The former Muskerry RFC and CBC Cork front rower made his Munster debut in 2011, and earned his first Ireland cap in 2016 before winning the Grand Slam in 2018.
He played at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, starting against Russia during the pool stages, and made his 150th Munster appearance against Ulster in 2020.
A hectic 2022/23 season saw the 36-year-old line out for Wasps in England, lift the URC trophy with Munster, and reach a Super Rugby Pacific final with the Chiefs in New Zealand.
That campaign saw Ryan make his 200th Munster appearance in December 2022, becoming only the 13th player to achieve the feat.
Since returning to the province permanently in 2023, he has made 33 appearances, including starts this season against Connacht, the DHL Stormers, the Hollywoodbets Sharks, the All Blacks XV, the Emirates Lions, Stade Francais, and Ulster.