Munster release Grand Slam winners Butler and Gibbons alongside Patterson and Smith

Munster have released four senior backs ahead of next season, with Ireland U20 Six Nations Grand Slam winners Tony Butler and Fionn Gibbons among those departing Thomond Park.

Fly-half Butler and centre Gibbons, both part of Ireland’s U20 Grand Slam-winning class of 2022, leave alongside scrum-half Paddy Patterson and Ireland 7s winger Andrew Smith. The four players combined for fewer than 100 senior appearances for the province, with Patterson alone accounting for more than half of that total.

Patterson, who joined Munster in 2020 after a spell at Leinster, was a notable contributor to the club’s URC title-winning 2022/23 campaign. His 14 appearances that season included five tries and a Player of the Match performance against South Africa A at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in November 2022. The scrum-half reached his 50th Munster cap against Zebre in February.

Butler is the second most-experienced of the departing quartet, having accumulated 28 appearances and scored 76 points across three years in the Academy and two further years in the senior squad.

Three academy players have also been released, though Munster did not name them publicly.

Despite the outgoing moves, head coach Clayton McMillan is understood to be close to securing two new arrivals for next season. Australian playmaker Will Harrison and former England tighthead Kieran Brookes are both set to sign for the province.