Former Ireland captain's son among Munster Rugby's five new academy recruits for next season
KEITH Wood's son Tom will be among five new academy players for Munster's 2025/26 campaign.
The province this morning confirmed that he would be joining the ranks along with Emmet Calvey, Conor Kennelly, Oisín Minogue and Eoghan Smyth.
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The club revealed the five new members of its academy on Wednesday morning
Credit: @munsterrugby
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Unlike his dad, Tom and his brothers play in the backline
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Keith and Tom after February's U20 Six Nations fixture against Wales in Newport
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The other Wood son Alex also plays to a high level with Garryowen in the Energia All-Ireland League
Credit: Garryowen RFC
All five are Ireland Under-20 internationals with Keith having
Keith's older son Gordon also featured in that game as
Tom and Gordon may be chips off the old block in many ways - but they're far from hard-nosed hookers as they line out at fly-half and centre respectively.
It's worth noting too that Oisín Minogue is the nephew of another Reds icon and ex-head coach in Anthony 'Axel' Foley.
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The family lineage of both legends being carried on into next season was warmly received by supporters.
Julien hailed: "Special mention to Tom Wood, carrying such a name is hard.
"There is a lot on you but know that whatever happens we, the supporters, will be with you. Just give it your all and have no regrets."
2025/26 MUNSTER ACADEMY SQUAD:
Year 3:
George Hadden, Dylan Hicks, Darragh McSweeney, Ben O'Connor, Max Clein, Ronan Foxe.
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Year 2:
Jake O'Riordan, Gene O'Leary Kareem, Michael Foy, Danny Sheahan, Seán Edogbo, Luke Murphy, Gordon Wood.
Year 1:
Emmet Calvey, Conor Kennelly, Oisin Minogue, Eoghan Smyth, Tom Wood.
'I live life on the edge' - Watch Peter O'Mahony storm off after wife Jessica startles him while gardening
On a lighter note, the official Munster Supporters Club had some fun on social media yesterday
The 39-year-old
Speaking at his first appearance as a member of
When asked on Monday about
Now, the good folk at the province's official club fan club have responded by taking Sexton up on his remark. They shared a mock-up of a season ticket pass with his name on it.
The amusing social media post was captioned: "Great to hear from official Lions Rugby that we have a new member for next season. Your card is in the post Johnny. SUAF."
BOOK BLAZE
In his autobiography, Sexton
He wrote that, after referee Wayne Barnes blew the final whistle, Ioane said to him 'Don't miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement you c***'.
Sexton responded by calling him 'a fake-humble f*****'.
Auckland native Ioane reignited the row after the All Blacks beat Ireland last November with an Instagram post with the caption 'Put that in the book'.
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