Tony Butler (born 23 April 2002) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who plays as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

club Munster.

Early life

Born in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

, Butler attended St Flannan's College. He first began playing rugby with Ennis, forming a half-back partnership with fellow Munster academy member Ethan Coughlan and captaining the club at underage level. As well as rugby, Butler was a talented hurler for St Joseph's Doora-Barefield, and started for Clare in their defeat against Limerick in the 2019 Munster Minor Hurling Championship final. He also helped St Flannan's win their first

Dr Harty Cup The Dr Harty Cup, officially known as the Munster Colleges Senior A Hurling Championship, is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-schools ...

in 15 years in March 2020. As student at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

studying construction management and engineering, Butler joined Limerick club Garryowen ahead of the 2021–22 All-Ireland League.

Munster

Butler progressed through the Munster youths system and, in September 2021, captained a Munster Development XV against Ulster. His debut for Munster's 'A' team followed in November, and in the same month Butler joined Munster's academy. Butler was registered with Munster's Champions Cup squad in December 2021 following the disruption caused by the province's recent tour to South Africa, and made his senior competitive debut for the province in their opening 2021–22 Champions Cup fixture away to English club

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

on 12 December 2021, coming on as a replacement for

Joey Carbery Joseph Carbery (born 1 November 1995) is an Irish rugby union player who plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup and for the Ireland national team. He plays primarily as a fly-half, but can also p ...

in the province's 35–14 win, alongside fellow Ennis RFC men Ethan Coughlan and Conor Moloney.

Ireland

Butler was selected in the Ireland under-20s squad for the 2022 Six Nations Under 20s Championship when it was announced in January 2022, and made his competitive debut for the under-20s in their tournament-opening 53–5 win against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 4 February, coming on for starting fly-half Charlie Tector in the 52nd minute and converting Ben Brownlee's 79th minute try. Butler was as a replacement in Ireland's 39–12 win against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 25 February, scoring two conversions, the 42–27 away win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 12 March, and the 59–5 home win against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

on 20 March that secured a

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

for Ireland. Butler was retained in the squad for the Under-20s Summer Series when it was announced in June 2022, and started in Ireland's opening 42–21 defeat against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 24 June, scoring one conversion during the match

Honours

Ireland under-20s

* Six Nations Under 20s Championship: **Winner (1):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

: **Winner (1):

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

: ** Winner (1):

References

External links

Munster Academy Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Tony 2002 births Living people Dual players St Joseph's Doora-Barefield hurlers Clare inter-county hurlers Rugby union players from County Clare Irish rugby union players Garryowen Football Club players Munster Rugby players Rugby union fly-halves