Waterfords Jack O Donoghue starts on the blindside for Johan Van Graan's Munster side today when the men in red make the trip to Murrayfield to face Edinburgh.
Having missed out on Six Nations selection with Ireland boss Andy Farrell, O' Donoghue has rallied and re-focussed his efforts on provincial affairs in the PRO14.
Heading into the Celtic Derby, O' Donoghue realises that the Edinburgh team will be a different beast to the one they faced before New Year.
"The Edinburgh team that we faced back in October will be a completely different team that we're now going to face on Saturday."
"It’s quite funny because you see the Scottish team and how well they’re going and from personal experiences from when Ireland have been so dominating the Six Nations and when those lads get released from those camps and back to their squads – the impact it has on the team its incredible."
"There’s such a buzz around the country and I’ve no doubt that’s what’s happening around Scotland at the moment. Scotland beating England and having an unbelievable excitement and then, unfortunately, losing out to Wales."
"Certainly, their confidence is going to be high and that will be evident when we come up against Edinburgh on Saturday."
"They do a lot of the basics right but certainly, it's going to be a serious contest in the contact area, be it the mauls, rucks or the tackles alone. I think that’s where it’s going to come down to for the winning or losing of the game."
Munster currently sit atop Conference B with a 10 point cushion over their nearest chasers and Western rivals Connacht. Since the World Cup in 2018, Munster were bolstered in the coaching department by the introduction of Australian World Cup winner Stephen Larkham as well as Lions tour victor Graham Rowntree.
O' Donoghue has been hugely impressed by the impact that both coaches have had on the side since their arrival in Limerick.
"From when Steve came in it was pretty evident that he put a lot of pressure on forwards to improve their skillset because he expects the forwards to be able to play as hybrids as a back as well."
"You could find yourself in a position between the 10 and 13 and you have to be able to know exactly what to do in terms of if the 10 calls a certain call. I think he’s really forced the forwards to really back themselves."
"A lot of time lads would have maybe not done it underage but when it came to professional they saw themselves as being more of a dominant force, you know rucking, carrying but he expects you to be able to throw a blind sweep pass out the back to 10. That’s brilliant for us because we can adapt our overall game week to week depending on who we’re playing."
"If our skillset have improved so much that it needs very little tinkering from him and he can identify a little week link in their defence maybe and we might be able to exploit it through our forwards."
The coach who possibly has the most impact on O' Donoghue is the former Lions tourist and English loosehead prop Graham Rowentree. Drafted in by Johan Van Graan when Munster legend Jerry Flannery departed the setup, Rowntree had a reputation as a tough as nails, no-nonsense forward - earning his place on two Lions tours as a player and two tours as a coach.
O' Donoghue says that he still carries himself like he did when he use to line out for England.
"His knowledge of the game is unbelievable and he’s been an unbelievable edition for the forwards."
"Just being able to chat with him and pick his brain. He came through an era there where it was a lot of tough lads going up against a lot of tough lads."
"He still has that old school streak in him in terms of the sharp edges and the dark arts that he tries to offload on to us."
"He’s incredibly enthusiastic when we're on the training field."
"He’s also up for the craic as well, he knows the craic that goes on within the team environment and he’s very much one to get stuck straight into the middle of it which is great for us."
Jack joined Nigel for On The Ball this week where he discussed his coaches, his World Cup winning teammates from South Africa and the talents of young scrum-half Craig Casey.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gNs5k5t5B5Zp7U2CSfuCF?si=ZTY_cnmvR5qZ5JdRkoRmJw
