JOSH Wycherley was due some good news after a neck injury sidelined him for more than four months. In the same week Munster Rugby announced the Bantry man had signed a new two-year contract, he also made his comeback from injury. Double delight.
‘That was a good week alright,’ the Munster loosehead prop tells The Southern Star.
‘When you are on the sidelines for that length of time, it can be tough, but how it all worked out just fell nicely – I got back in action at the same time the new contract was announced. You’re buzzing after a few days like that.
‘To be signed on for another two years is exciting and I really hope it will be a successful two years.’
Just five days after Wycherley’s new Munster deal was announced, he made his comeback from injury in the 29-8 United Rugby Championship (URC) win against Scarlets at Thomond Park. He played 55 minutes in his first game since featuring against Zebre in round two of the URC in late September – there were a few aches and pains the morning after, he laughs.
‘The body was stiff and sore, but it was so enjoyable to be out there and playing again. No complaints from me!’ Wycherley says, as he looks forward to the second half of the campaign, eager to make up for lost time after the neck injury derailed his season before it really started.
He had featured in Munster’s first two URC games but he never got the chance to build momentum. In training the week after the Zebre game, Wycherley hit a maul, his neck tilted and a disc slipped out and pushed onto a nerve. It was the worst pain he’s ever felt. Within days he had surgery.
‘The disc shifted out onto a nerve and the pain went down the arm fairly quickly,’ he recalls.
‘I knew it was pretty serious and luckily I had the surgery by the Friday. The staff were brilliant, they put everything in motion very quickly. Once I got the bang I knew it was serious, I knew it was more than a stinger but the staff were right on it, and soon it was all about the rehab.’
Facing months out, he looked at the journey back to playing as an opportunity to improve his own game. The former Bantry Bay RFC man has already achieved a lot – he has won an U20 Six Nations Grand Slam with Ireland (2019), has made 67 appearances for Munster, won the URC title with his home province and featured on the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa in 2022. A lot done, but more to do, he says.
West Cork duo Josh Wycherley and John Hodnett won an U20 Grand Slam with Ireland in 2019.
‘I saw it as an opportunity because when you are out for that long it gives you the chance to analyse your game, chat to the coaches and review your game and different areas you can target for your rehab. The hope then is to transfer all that work into training and games,’ Wycherley explains, chatting to his local paper on a week that saw two more West Cork men, Gavin Coombes and John Hodnett, called into Ireland training, alongside Jack Crowley. Josh’s older brother Fineen was in the Ireland A squad. They are heights the 25 year old wants to reach.
‘You want to play at the top levels. In fairness to all those lads, they have been unbelievable for us for years so it’s great to see them get into squads and push on. It’s what we all want, to push on. It’s always been an ambition of mine,’ Wycherley says.
‘For everyone, your ambition is to play at the top level and to give your best performance every week.
‘You are always trying to improve your game any way you can. I spent a lot of time in the gym trying to get my neck right, and take it from there onto the pitch. It was a good couple of months to just refocus and get better.’
Now he is back on the pitch, Wycherley wants to hit the ground running and play his part in what he hopes will be a strong finish to the season for Munster.
They currently sit fifth in the URC table and face Edinburgh at Virgin Media Park this Friday night (7.35pm). Further down the line Munster face Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle in an away Champions Cup quarter-final, but Wycherley’s focus is all on the upcoming run of URC games and getting back up to match speed after his long lay-off.
‘The work I did with Ray McGinley, Gordon Brett and Adam Sheehan when I was off, all the staff really, was excellent, to make sure I was in the best condition I could be to get back and perform for the team,’ he says.
‘In every game I’ll be building match fitness and I’m excited about the weeks and months ahead.
‘La Rochelle will be a big one, but we are focussing on the URC, trying to push up the table, taking it game by game, and hopefully have a strong finish to the season.’
With Wycherley back on board, it increases Munster’s options, and he’s a man on a mission to show what he can do.
