Shay McCarthy aiming to seize his chance with ‘exciting’ Munster

The 23-year-old is relishing his impressive run in the team, which he hopes to extend when the Sharks visit on Saturday

Michael Scully

Thu Oct 29 2026 - 06:00 • 4 MIN READ

The trial with Brighton and Hove Albion never happened. Shay McCarthy was 15 when he was due to travel to England for an opportunity with the Premier League club, but a broken ankle intervened. He never received another call.

It was a setback that helped leave the way open for a career that is now, finally, beginning to gather momentum with Munster.

The Limerick native had been playing with Fairview Rangers and the Limerick District Schoolboy League, winning All-Ireland honours at both club and schoolboy level.

Limerick FC also expressed an interest, but he was reluctant to pursue a career in the League of Ireland. Growing older, the practicalities of balancing several sports began to take their toll.

“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,” McCarthy said. “I got older and just decided rugby was what I enjoyed doing most. So I stuck at it.”

Rugby was, in fact, the first sport he played, beginning at about five years of age. Soccer followed, helped along by weekend mornings watching Soccer Saturday, while Gaelic games provided another outlet through his local club, St Patrick’s.

Among those he played football with was Gearóid Hegarty, now one of Limerick’s leading hurlers and the owner of six All-Ireland SHC winners medals.

“He’s an unbelievable hurler, but he’s pretty handy at football as well,” McCarthy said, smiling.

The range of sports has stayed with him in his professional career. “You can see the correlation from the other sports into rugby now,” he reflected. “Kicking the ball, catching high balls – they’re things you get from soccer, Gaelic football. So it is a big part of playing multi-sports, I think.”

His rugby development took him from Richmond RFC and St Munchin’s, where he won a Munster Schools Junior Cup, into the Young Munster set-up. Impressing in the All-Ireland League, he made his Ireland Under-20 debut in 2022 and earned a place in the Munster Academy the following year.

His first season there brought a Champions Cup debut against Northampton Saints in the round of 16 and seven appearances overall at senior level for the province.

But after a handful of outings over the following two campaigns, last year saw him spend much of his time playing club rugby and his one Munster appearance came early in the season off the bench against Connacht.

McCarthy enjoyed the consistency of the AIL, where he says he accumulated more minutes than any other player at his club last season. Yet he was conscious in the summer that his development at Munster needed to move forward.

“I decided to get myself back in there,” he says. “I didn’t get as many opportunities last year as I would have liked, but it’s just taking it now, taking chances as I get them.

“You don’t want me standing on the wing, you get cold. 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.”

That opportunity has arrived. Clayton McMillan selected him in the starting side against the Bulls on October 3rd, and McCarthy has retained his place since. His start against Racing 92 was only his second European appearance in three years and he made the most of it, running in Munster’s second try at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the 33-25 win.

He is expected to make his fifth start in a row for the province on Saturday, when the Sharks come to Thomond Park, one of his sporting theatres of dreams when he was younger.

“I never even imagined playing for Munster myself,” he reflected. “It’s a privilege. There’s just something special about it, something special about the crowd when you’re there.”

Hence his determination to seize this latest chance. Last Saturday’s loss to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium was a frustrating outcome, although McCarthy made an important contribution as his side successfully chased a losing bonus point, producing jackal turnovers as well as an important offload for Alex Nankivell’s try.

Asked about his contribution, McCarthy’s response shows a player focused on delivering on the opportunities he has been given. “To be honest, just doing my job,” he said. “It’s just another game.

“I’m fortunate enough that I’m not someone who gets overly nervous before games. I just like to know that if I go out and do my job, that gives the team every chance. We’ve performed well. 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 believes the attacking philosophy of attack coaches Jared Payne and Mossy Lawler has helped Munster’s back three become more involved, offering greater opportunities to influence games.

“As wingers, we’re getting the ball a lot more. We’re getting a lot more touches, and I hope everyone can see it at home, it’s very exciting to watch in comparison to the last few years,” he said.

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