Kendellen Pens Two-Year Contract Extension With Munster
Cork native Alex Kendellen is pictured celebrating after scoring for Munster against Stade Francais in the Investec Champions Cup last month ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
Munster Rugby and the IRFU have confirmed that Alex Kendellen has signed a two-year contract extension with the province.
Prior to joining the Munster Academy in 2020, Kendellen had already earned a number of representative honours at provincial and international level.
He lined out for the Munster Under-18 Schools and Under-19 teams, and was appointed the Ireland Under-18 Schools captain in 2019 and played for the Ireland U-18 Sevens side.
The Cork-born back rower joined the Munster Academy straight out of school, having led PBC Cork to the Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup final that year.
In early 2021 he made his Munster debut as a first year Academy player against the Scarlets. The same year he captained the Ireland Under-20s for the Six Nations, where he was a standout performer and scored six tries in five appearances.
Kendellen made his Investec Champions Cup debut against Castres Olympique at the age of 20 in December 2021, and scored his first try against Ulster in January 2022. He ended that season with 20 appearances, including starts in the Champions Cup knockout games against Exeter Chiefs and Toulouse.
He enjoyed another excellent campaign in 2022/23 and made 22 appearances as Munster memorably won the BKT United Rugby Championship title in his first year as a member of the senior squad.
Kendellen played all 25 of Munster games last season, and proudly reached the 50th cap milestone against Glasgow Warriors in December 2023. He also captained the province to victory over Crusaders at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last February.
He was Emerging Ireland’s skipper for their three-match tour to South Africa in October, and was a training panellist with Andy Farrell’s 35-player Ireland squad during the recent Autumn Nations Series.
To date, the 23-year-old has scored five tries in 79 Munster appearances, and this new contract will keep him at his home province until at least 2027.
Four of Kendellen’s Munster team-mates, Tom Ahern, Gavin Coombes, Shane Daly, and Alex Nankivell, have already signed two-year contract extensions ahead of next season, with Shay McCarthy moving up from the Academy to the senior squad.