rugby
Share icon

Share

Ref mic picks up risky backchat from annoyed Munster captain Beirne

Published 16:49 27 Apr 2026 BST

Updated 16:49 27 Apr 2026 BST

Colman Stanley
Ref mic picks up risky backchat from annoyed Munster captain Beirne

Homerugby

He was not at all pleased....

As expected, a strong Munster outfit put a big score against a seriously depleted Ulster team, beating them 41-14 at Thomond Park on Saturday.

The result puts Munster up to fifth in the URC, after a hugely tumultuous few weeks, while Ulster are down to eighth, and just three points ahead of Connacht who are pushing hard for a top-eight play-off spot.

During the game, a frustrated captain Beirne found himself in a verbal tussle with referee Sam Gove-White.

You can watch the exchange below.

Following the game, head coach Clayton McMillan gave an injury update on Jack Crowley - who pulled out just before the game - Oli Jager, Tadhg Beirne and others.

He said: “Obviously Jack pulled out before the game, just not too sure, he’s kind of had like a dead leg that just wouldn’t go away, couldn’t generate any power from it, so we made a call literally in the last minute of the warm-up to pull him, but JJ was ready to go and he jumped in there.

“But there’s a few other dings, you know. Tadhg took a bit of a nasty fall there, and he’s done something to his leg. JK, John Kleyn, he’s done something to his bicep. Calvin Nash, hamstring, Tom Farrell, shoulder, so look, I’d say there’s probably two or three season-enders there.

“Oli, concussion, so you know, I feel for him in particular because he’s come back strong and to have another setback is pretty concerning, but yeah, I don’t want to jump to any conclusions yet around that.”

Explore more on these topics: