CIAN Hurley didn’t dwell on disappointment when his Munster dream came to an end. Instead, the Clonakilty man seized a new opportunity – he moved to the other side of the world to join the Southland Stags in New Zealand.
‘I loved Munster, and I still do. I always will. That was always the dream when I was growing up, but for me, it didn’t go the way I wanted it to,’ says Hurley, who was released by his home province at the end of last season.
His career had been derailed by back-to-back serious injuries. First, an Achilles injury, followed by a knee setback – the 25-year-old lock didn’t get the chance to show what he could do, which was frustrating.
But when one door closed, another opened.
‘At this stage of my career, I felt the best thing for me was to move away and try something new,’ Hurley explains.
‘Coming to New Zealand will help me get the love of the game back through playing. It’s about getting minutes, building confidence, and just enjoying rugby again. When you’re injured all the time, stuck on the outside looking in, that enjoyment disappears.
‘This move is giving me the chance to reignite the spark, have a good season, and see what doors that might open.’
Swapping Clonakilty for New Zealand all happened really fast, but within the whirlwind that has been the last few months, Hurley has made peace with the realisation that his Munster dream didn’t work out.
‘When I first went into the Munster Academy, that was all I wanted to do – you want to be the fella who wins hundreds of caps for your province and goes on to be, hopefully, capped by your country,’ the former Clonakilty Rugby Club star says.
‘Now that I’m a bit older and understand the game a bit more, what I’ve learned is that everyone’s path is so, so different.
‘In my head, I’ve accepted that this is the way things have gone for me, and this is the plan that’s meant for me.
‘Injuries are part of the game, and I’ve been unfortunate that they have played a bigger part in my career than most.’
Cian Hurley waves goodbye to Munster rugby fans at Virgin Media Park at the end of last season. (Photo: Bryan Keane/INPHO)
Hurley made his senior debut for Munster in 2021 when he was 20 years old. He played four more times in the province’s URC title-winning season of 2022/23. Then came the injuries. When he learned Munster were not going to offer him a new deal, the Clon man began searching for a new club and new opportunity.
‘I wanted to experience something new – and moving to the other side of the world to play rugby is certainly something new!’ he laughs, chatting to The Southern Star from his new base in Invercargill, a city in New Zealand’s South Island.
Nathan White, a Kiwi who played for Ireland, is now co-coach of the Southland Stags – he put out the call to see if any locks or back rows in Ireland were coming off contracts. Hurley’s name cropped up, and things moved quickly from there.
‘It was probably a shock to my parents – from the time I told them to when I left, it was about five or six days. It was a quick turnaround because I was late signing the deal and the season was starting, so I came straight down,’ says Hurley, who has hit the ground running.
The league, the National Provincial Championship (NPC), kicked off last weekend when Hurley’s Southland side hosted rivals Otago. This is more than just a game – it’s known as Stag Day. New team, new teammates, new clubs, new rivalries, new surroundings – there’s a lot for Hurley to take in, but the constant is rugby.
‘They play a different brand of rugby, but I’m fortunate that I’ve worked with a lot of really good coaches,’ he says.
‘It’s a very expansive attacking game here, whereas if you look at the URC (United Rugby Championship) now, teams are built on defence. Here, teams look to create space and attack – I’ve improved that area of my game a lot.
‘Working with Mossy Lawlor while I was injured at Munster, he put huge time into me to improve my skill level, and that’s helping me down here.
‘Also, the line-out here, that’s an area where I feel I can contribute a lot to the team. I’d like to think I’ll fit in well.’
The NPC is a sprint, as former Ireland U20 international Hurley explains.
‘It’s a big thing down here, it’s quite unique. Super Rugby runs from January to around June, and then a lot of the Super Rugby players who aren’t with the All Blacks go back and play for their NPC clubs,’ he says.
‘It’s basically a four-month season, and after that time those players return to their Super Rugby clubs for pre-season. A lot of NPC players hope to be picked up by Super Rugby teams or clubs abroad.’
He’s excited by the challenge of a new league and new style of rugby, but also by the chance to experience a different culture.
‘I’ve chatted to people who were with Munster and went abroad, and they all said that experiencing rugby through a different lens is quite powerful,’ Hurley says.
‘When you’re in Munster, it can feel like it’s the be-all and end-all, but when you go away, you get to see how it’s done in other places, especially down here in New Zealand.
‘Rugby is a religion here. Every small town and village revolves around rugby clubs, like it does with GAA clubs at home. The pure love for the game here is really special.
‘The Stags are a big community. Invercargill is quite small, if you compare it to Cork city, but the province of Southland is a proud place – it’s built on hard work and on its people, and that makes it really special.’
He adds: ‘The biggest compliment I could pay everyone here is that it feels like I’ve known them for years – they’ve been so welcoming and receptive, and so inquisitive about how we operate in Ireland.’
Exciting times for Hurley as his new rugby adventure begins – and with his spark for the game reignited, he can’t wait to see where it takes him.
