Irish-qualified Dan Kelly to join Munster next season

Munster's recruitment for next season has continued with the signing of Irish-qualified centre Dan Kelly from Leicester Tigers.

The 23-year-old will join on a two-year contract at the end of the season.

Born in Manchester, Kelly is a former Ireland Under-20 international, qualifying through his Irish-born grandparents, while he has also earned one England cap.

The centre started all three games of the abandoned 2020 Six Nations Championship, where he played alongside his future Munster team-mates Jack Crowley and Tom Ahern.

While Kelly played U20s for Ireland, he stayed in England to join Leicester, making his debut at the age of 19, and has played 88 times for the Tigers, winning a Premiership title in 2022.

It looked as if Ireland would miss out on the midfielder when he was called into the senior England squad in 2021, making his debut in their summer Test win against Canada under then-head coach Eddie Jones.

And while he has been included in an England training squad as recently as 2023, Kelly became Irish-qualified again in the summer of 2024 after satisfying World Rugby’s three-year stand down period to switch national allegience.

His arrival will come as a boost to the province’s depth in the centre, with Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell already proving a popular combination, along with Rory Scannell.

While Munster are still looking for a new permanent head coach, it hasn’t stopped the province in bolstering their squad, with Leinster front row pair Michael Milne and Lee Barron also joining this summer.

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We need your consent to load this YouTube content We use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and