The Goggin guide: from Munster to Mary's, via Montauban

Former Munster man Dan Goggin is enjoying his rugby again, and realising why - but when he returned from France, he knew avoiding home comforts was the right thing to do

Thu, 09 Oct, 2025 - 07:09

PJ Browne

DAN Goggin wonders if he had stayed at Montauban — if he had managed to stomach the turbulence — would he have landed on the tarmac with the club in the Top 14? Instead, the former Munster centre is lining out with St Mary’s in the All-Ireland League.

“It's not a bad thing to open up to the world, and it was a super experience,” says Goggin about the 2023/24 season in the French D2.

“I love France, I love the culture, I really like the language. The rugby was the difficult side of things. Up until Christmas, the first six months was great, and then we lost a couple of games on the bounce after Christmas, and things started to go haywire.

“One or two of the coaches got fired, some of the French players threw the towel in at that point, and then everyone followed suit, and things just became a little bit miserable.

“We went into turmoil a bit, even though we had an extremely good team on paper, we ended up in a relegation battle. Thankfully we survived, but I decided by March, I don't want to continue doing this if I'm not enjoying it, and decided to come home and join Mary's.

“Montauban got a new coaching outfit, and this is the thing in France: you need a good coaching ticket. They ended up going on to win Pro D2 the year after I left, and now they're in the Top 14. Things change very quickly.

“Who knows if I'd have stayed, would I be playing in the Top 14 now, but I don't regret the decision I made whatsoever.”

Goggin had offers from other D2 clubs to remain in France but the vibes didn’t feel right.

“I didn't back the coaching tickets they had either,” he says, “I had mates in some of the clubs there, talked to a couple of players, and I was asking were they happy there, were things good, and what's training like, and none of it was enough for me to actually bite the bullet and stay on.

“I just didn't feel I was enjoying it enough to continue. I spoke to St Mary's back here while I was over in France and a couple of other people about the club and it just made more sense for me to come here.

“With the season we had and the experience I got through it, I really found a love for it again, which made me want to continue playing and gaining experiences. Playing amateur rugby now, you can move around the world at your own free will. That's what I'm gaining from it and enjoying about it again.”

Mary’s have two wins from two games in Division 1A, continuing their superb form from last season which saw them finish second in the top tier, eventually losing out Cork Con in the play-off semi-finals. That was the Dublin club’s first season back in 1A following a seven-year absence.

“I don't think anyone would have expected that from us,” says Goggin, who was named the AIL’s player of the year. That award came just over two years after his departure from Munster. The Limerick man was the type of player they love to see at Munster: an academy product who became a regular in the first team. There were 81 appearances over seven years. He wishes it could have lasted longer.

“Would have loved that it continued, went on longer, but probably at my own hand, that came to an end,” Goggin, who had a year left on his Munster contract, explains about his departure in the spring of 2023.

“Wanting to go on loan and play rugby elsewhere, and then it didn't work out. Everything happens for a reason, but they're my greatest years, definitely, playing rugby - 100%.”

Shortly after Munster announced that Goggin would be leaving for an opportunity abroad, the player was hit with a lengthy ban for an incident in club game against Garryowen. Goggin, who was lining out for Young Munster, made contact to the face of Sean Rennison, causing a serious injury.

“I had asked to go on loan, and that was granted, and then something else came up, and we came to an agreement that we'll call it a day,” he says.

“And I was going on loan, I was actually going down to Eastern Suburbs (in Australia) but I ended up getting a ban, as everybody knows, which was unfortunate, I couldn't go down in the end.

“So I appealed that ban, and got it down to three games, because it was a complete accident, and ended up going to France. Things worked out in the end, and I was still able to play rugby and get a job, which was great.”

Centre has always been Goggin’s favoured position. It was there he played this summer when he finally got to out line out with Eastern Suburbs in the Shute Shield. Due to injuries in the St Mary’s squad last season, Goggin switched to the back row for the first time. He’s also lined out there in their opening two games this season.

“I guess being a bigger body in the back, it kind of makes sense, a natural progression with older age to kind of maybe move into the back row,” he says.

“For the last five games that happened and yeah, I really enjoyed it. I think the centre and back row are kind of similar body types, similar roles in terms of like, you need to be hitting big and carrying big.

“I didn't have to learn line-out calls, which was great, I just was taking it out from a maul basically and playing the ball. There wasn't too much to adapt to or learn. You kind of just have to have a head for it as well.

“When I went down to Australia, I was back playing in the centre. My love for the game is definitely in the backs. But as a few people have already told me, it's a natural progression for me, with having a bit more weight and getting older and slowing down, it could be what I'm doing in the future.”

Both of St Mary’s wins this season have been significant. They beat reigning champions Clontarf in the opening round, and then away from home, Goggin’s old team, Young Munster.

“Young Munster was my club that I joined after school and one of the best decisions I ever made because they were in 1A rugby,” he says. “My club at the time was UL Bohemians and they were in 1B and I hadn't made the Irish 18's or 19's final squad so I felt in order to be seen I needed to be playing 1A rugby. They took me in like one of their own and looked after me like clubs do in rugby.

“It made me feel at home and my brother was there at the time so it just made sense to join them. I ended up making the Irish 20's playing every game in the Six Nations and World Cup that year. So easily one of the best decisions I've made.”

So why choose St Mary’s over Young Munster?

“I think I needed a change from Limerick,” he says. “There was still a little bit of you know… I'd just been in Munster a year (before) although there was no bad blood, they're always going to be the team that I support, I just felt that I didn't want to be in that vicinity.

“If I was to come back to Ireland I think Dublin was the right place for me and I spoke to a couple of clubs and Mary's made sense. St Mary's is my club now but Young Munster will always be my club as well.

“I just feel I've enjoyed my rugby since I've left the professional game a good bit more than my last few years. I'm still 30 years old and I hope to play for a good few more years.”