Munster Rugby Deep Dive: Without Jack Crowley the Reds back-row 2026/27 need to be The Killers

Gavin Coombes, John Hodnett, Alex Kendellen have impeccable Munster CVs.

They are 2018, 2020, 2021 Academy inductees, are 28, 27 and 25 years-of-age respectively but have yet to make a meaningful impact with Ireland.

And what Munster need from this triptych supported by Jack O'Donoghue and Brian Gleeson is the Munster's stand up and fight back-row of famous Heineken Cup brew - Quinlan, Halvey, Leamy, Wallace, Foley, Peter O'Mahony - who dominated games and tempo, who won things.

The time bell is ringing for 2026/27 and the current six, seven and eight will be needed right here, right now, if Munster are not to fall even further back.

Says Simon of the importance the back-row will play this season: “I'm a massive fan of Hodnett, Coombes, and Kendellen and they are definitely talented enough to be involved with Ireland or to have more caps than they do.

“You look at some of the back-rows who have been capped over the years wearing different club colours and I would argue that all three of those guys are far superior to some of the others who have been selected.

“It's just a shame as to why, just sometimes the luck of the draw, or injury, or form-wise, or whether the club is performing well enough, at any given time.

“There is a lot has to go your way to get selected and when you the opportunity you have to take it with both hands because competition for the back-row around all the provinces is super high at the moment."

Roscarbbery's Hodnett has 91 Munster caps and scored 90 points to date but his international ambitions have been limited to two 2022 Emerging Ireland appearances.

“John is incredibly tough, incredibly durable, amazing leg-fight through contact and leg drive and there is so much more.

"He is a brilliant poacher of the ball, brilliant handling skills, a menace on the ground, he's just so hardy, so brave. There's no box for me that he doesn't tick.

“He is as good as a lot of the back-rows I've ever played with and that includes my time in France with Racing - and we made the 2020 Champions Cup final - it’s crazy how he hasn't been capped at senior level by Ireland."

Cork city raised Kendellen's has Munster 101 caps, scored nine tries and is an Ireland schools (2018-19), Sevens (2021), U20 (2021), Emerging Ireland (2025) and single-capped senior international (2025 vs Portugal.)

“Alex is super skilful, has lovely offloading ability and great passing for a back-row, he is similar to Pete (O'Mahony) in many ways.

“He is super, super fit. He gets over the gain-line and the try-line, gets through a mountain of work. He has a very exciting future ahead of him and he's just a great kid as well.

"It'll be interesting next couple of years for him because I think for all the talent he has, he really needs to nail down a starting role in the side and then I think he can kick on another level."

Then there is the mystery of Gavin Coombes, the Skibbereen eagle who is brilliant in Red but unable to make an impact at Test level.

“I think that's a tough one to work out and it is probably disappointing for him in terms of the lack of Ireland caps or squad involvements he's gotten.

“Caelan Doris has obviously been very, very good for Leinster and, probably their player profiles are quite similar.

"So you choose one, the other one gets left out or you go for another no8, like Jack Conan, who's a totally different profile.

“He has just been incredibly unlucky because he is of massive importance to Munster because of his gain-line capability, because of his work ethic and skills.

“But maybe the lack of lineout, he's not a massive lineout option for Munster, he doesn't really go up into the air probably as much as some other no8's do.

“He's probably that bit heavy, or maybe not as pretty on the eye as some others, but I rate him massively and I think he's been at least one of the best no8s in the country, if not the best no8 when he's at his best."

And being at his best means scoring tries; Coombes has made 140 competitive games for Munster, 120 of them as a starter, and this works out at 8,755 minutes.

Thus, his 55 tries in competitive games leaves him averaged a Munster try every 32 minutes...

"Some people want to go mad after certain lads, like they always do, or hype up their favourite players.

"But I'm a massive fan of what I see as well and in Gavin Coombes and nobody has a try scoring record like him.

“It's incredible, what he's capable of doing and the importance he has to Munster - you can see they have designed five-metre penalties around Gav because you know it's a try guarantee.

Loughmore’s Brian Gleeson joined the Academy in 2023 and has made 37 Munster appearances to date, scoring five tries and at 22 years-of-age is the youngest in the back-row conversation.

"There's excellent competition there as well, not least from Brian Gleeson who'll probably have his say about getting in.

"He is someone I judge quite highly so I'd say he'd be relatively happy, injury or no injury last season, about where he has got to so far.

“For a guy as talented as he is, he'll have high expectations of not only starting and knocking down the door in Munster.

“He'll be thinking ‘I want to be in that Irish back-row’ playing alongside Caelan and Josh Van der Flier or whoever, he will see himself fitting in there."

Gleeson was chosen at no8 for Ireland 'A' against England last February at Thomond Park, playing 46 minutes and posting a try in 14-52 reverse against England 'A'.

"Brian has those highlight reel moments that are just incredible but he needs to get a lot of game time under his belt and, especially, in these big European games that are coming to town

"He is super talented and super explosive but he needs a big season if he is to get to where he can be.

"Then the question is whether that 80-minute performance is there consistently enough to get him into Ireland?

“Maybe not yet, or maybe he's going to prove it this season, maybe it'll be in the first six games - he'll blow everything out of the water and show the incredible talent that he has.”

Coach Clayton McMillan gets the say who will start across the back-row and it’s a helluva conundrum.

"It's very tough one for the coaches because it’s about a mix because a lot of these players can play more than one position, Tadhg Beirne is a back-row an second-roe option and it's been a real dogfight between Hodnett and Kendellen for that no7 shirt.

"I just think in their case you find a way of both of them playing and teams have done that in the past - it’s not a case of a Sam Warburton and a Justin Tipuric where they're so similar in styles and how they play.

“These lads are still quite different, one's super robust, one's a bit more polished, and together, I think they just go really well and whoever anchors it from no8, whether it's a Hodnett or a Coombes or a Gleason, is neither here nor there.

A FIENDISHLY DIFFICULT START

Home Sat, Sept 26 vs Glasgow, Thomond Park 5.30pm - 2025/26 URC league-proper winner, lost semi-final by one point: Champions Cup QF

Home Sat, Oct 3 vs Bulls, Thomond Park, 7.45pm - 2025/26 URC runners-up

Away Sat, Oct 10 vs Ulster, Affidea Stadium, 5.30pm -2025/26 Challenge Cup runners-up

Home Sat, Oct 14 vs Racing (CCup), Pairc Ui Chaoimh, 8pm - Third place 2025/26 Top 14

Away Sat, Oct 24 vs Leinster, Aviva Stadium, 6pm - 2025/26 URC champions; Champions Cup runners-up

Home Sat, Oct 31 vs Sharks, Thomond Park, 5.30pm; Eight players among 29 SA-home/ based ‘Bok squad for 2026 NZ seriesURC returns w/ending December 4/5/6; ERC resumes 11/12/13.