The Irish front-rower on Bantry Bay RFC, brotherly advice and ball-carrying
Munster prop Josh Wycherley
Date of birth 22 July 1999 Born Bantry, County Cork Position Prop Province Munster Country Ireland
How old were you when you first played?
About seven or eight with Bantry Bay RFC. My dad was very involved with the club and the under-age system, so I was always around rugby from a young age. I played for Bantry all the way up until U18.
I moved to Cistercian College Roscrea for two years where I played in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup. After that I moved to Limerick and was lucky to be offered an academy contract at Munster.
What positions have you played?
When I was younger I played a few different positions across the front row but as I got older it was mainly loosehead.
When did you link up with Munster?
When I was asked to trial for the age-grade system. I joined the cadets around the age of 14. From there I was lucky enough to get selected through the squads as the years went on and got to play in the U18 and U19 inter-pros against the other three provinces.
What age-grade international honours do you have?
Ireland U18, U19, U20. The highlight would have to be winning the Grand Slam with the U20s in 2019.
Maybe the best story from the weekend…
21-year-old prop Josh Wycherley on his #HeinekenChampionsCup debut for @Munsterrugby, up against Rabah Slimani ?
And he was dominant in the scrum, providing a platform for a famous comeback!
Bravo ? pic.twitter.com/54Mez2dTyL
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) December 21, 2020
Has it been helpful having your brother also playing pro rugby?
Yes. Fineen went through the same system with Munster so it was beneficial having someone who you could bounce any questions off around different areas of the academy or areas of the game.
What are your goals this year?
My main goals are to keep working on key areas of my game and try to perfect them, and to become a regular starter for Munster.
I’m happy how my defence work and scrum work is going. One area I’m looking to improve would be my ball-carrying.
What do you do away from rugby?
The thing consuming most of my time is college work (he studies Marketing Management), but when I’m not doing that I like heading for coffee with the lads and watching Netflix.
RW Verdict: His performance against Clermont this season, when he recovered from a tough start in the scrum against Rabah Slimani to dominate his Test opponent, marks Wycherley out as a player with enormous potential.
This article originally appeared in the March 2021 edition of Rugby World magazine.
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