BEN O’DONOVAN WAS sitting in the New Zealand U20s’ team hotel in Cape Town in July 2024 when he got an unexpected tap on the shoulder.
The Kiwis had just beaten their Irish counterparts in the World Rugby U20 Championship third-place play-off, and Ireland were staying at the same hotel.
The teams were relaxing and enjoying a few drinks after a long, tough tournament.
Scrum-half O’Donovan came off the bench for New Zealand in that game against Ireland. Little did he know that imposing Irish number eight Brian Gleeson, loosehead prop Emmet Calvey, lock Luke Murphy, fullback Ben O’Connor – who “carved us up” – and replacement back row Seán Edogbo would later be his Munster team-mates.
“Actually, Jake O’Riordan was on the bench and we exchanged shorts after the match,” said O’Donovan this week ahead of his Champions Cup debut for Munster off the bench against Racing 92 today [KO 8pm, Premier Sports].
“I brought those Irish shorts over here with me, and Jake was like, ‘Are they my shorts?’”
It was that night in the hotel in South Africa that first sparked the possibility of his move to Ireland.
He had grown up aiming to play for the Crusaders and All Blacks, but having been born in Ireland, there was sometimes a thought at the back of his mind that there could be a route in rugby for him outside of New Zealand.
It was Peter Smyth, then the IRFU’s head of performance pathways, who tapped O’Donovan’s shoulder, interrupting his post-match beers for a chat.
Smyth had a list of players on other teams at the U20 World Championship who were Irish-eligible, and O’Donovan was on it. Smyth is a St Mary’s College RFC man, and he knew some of O’Donovan’s family, with his mother, Ruth, hailing from Dublin and his uncles involved with the club.
They had a quick discussion about O’Donovan’s plans and exchanged details. But the young scrum-half flew home to New Zealand the next day and hadn’t given it much further thought until an email from Smyth popped up in December 2025.
In the meantime, O’Donovan had been contracted to the Canterbury provincial union, but injury meant he hadn’t been able to break through in 2025. He had hoped to earn a training contract with the Crusaders, yet the Super Rugby franchise looked elsewhere.
“I had finished my degree that month at uni,” said O’Donovan. “I studied environmental science, and so I was scrolling, looking for jobs, seeing if I could find any jobs for the summer and whatnot.
“But three days later, I got the email from Peter Smyth asking if I’d be interested in coming over.”
O'Donovan on his Munster debut against Exeter in April. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
O’Donovan was interested. He flew to Ireland in January 2026 and spent a week on trial with Munster before a week with Ulster. He enjoyed both stints and both provinces were keen, so O’Donovan returned to Christchurch with a decision to make.
A fortnight later, having sold his car and decided that he would chase his professional career in Ireland rather than hang around hoping for a belated contract offer from the Crusaders, O’Donovan was on his way back to Munster.
“I guess Clayton [McMillan, Munster's head coach] had some good things to say, and I was pretty excited to come over,” said O’Donovan.
“I had enjoyed my week down here. The likes of Alex [Nankivell] and Craig [Casey] were very good, very welcoming. I had a few chats with Martyn Vercoe, our manager, and Clayton.
“Clayton was just saying, ‘There is an opportunity here for you. We see you fitting into some of our plans nicely.’
“I guess I was a different sort of halfback to what they had at the time with Craig, Ethan [Coughlan] and Patsy [Paddy Patterson] last year, who I guess are smaller in stature compared to myself, a little bit bigger.
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“So they felt like I had a running game that could be used here. That was cool to hear, and I was excited about that.
“I enjoyed my time up in Ulster too. Richie Murphy was very good and I got on well with some of the lads up there, but probably for my game, it was a bit better suited here.”
O’Donovan was born in Dublin, his mother’s home city, but his Kiwi father, Daniel O’Donovan, has strong roots in Timoleague, West Cork.
Having been able to get an Irish passport thanks to those connections, Daniel came over to Dublin to play rugby when he was a young fella. He joined Suttonians RFC, where he was on the same team as Ruth’s brother, which resulted in an introduction to Ruth.
Daniel later played with Ashbourne RFC in Meath, but the young family moved to New Zealand when Ben was four, setting up in Christchurch.
When O’Donovan was 11, he and his family – he has a younger sister and a younger brother – came to Ireland on holiday, spending some time in Timoleague and Clonakilty.
“My dad was always Munster,” said O’Donovan.
“I had this Munster jersey when I was growing up, and it would annoy the hell out of my mum because she was like, ‘You were born in Leinster.’”
O’Donovan knew about New Zealand internationals like Christian Cullen, Doug Howlett and Malakai Fekitoa playing for Munster, meaning there was always an interest in the province.
O'Donovan with his housemate, Charlie O'Shea. Dan Clohessy
Dan Clohessy
He loved playing cricket too, but rugby was serious business as he came through St Bede’s College in Christchurch, then went on to help the Crusaders to the Super Rugby U20 title in 2024 before he played for the New Zealand U20s.
It’s not a huge surprise that O’Donovan played a bit of rugby in the centre when he was still at school, although he was predominantly a scrum-half. His powerful running game remains a key strength.
“I was a big fan of TJ Perenara,” said O’Donovan.
“Obviously, Aaron Smith was kind of the pinnacle halfback over in New Zealand, but I probably suited more of my game towards TJ, a bigger kind of running halfback, kind of base myself on running those nice lines back in.
“And then recently, Noah Hotham [of the Crusaders], probably similar builds. [Cam] Roigard as well, he’s kind of a bigger halfback so they’re probably some of the recent halfbacks you look up to, but when I was growing up, it was TJ.”
Although he aspired to emulate Perenara and other All Blacks scrum-halves, there was always an attraction to Ireland for O’Donovan, who supported Irish teams whenever the Kiwis weren’t playing.
Had he not made it as a professional rugby player, he reckons he would have come to Ireland at some stage to play in the All-Ireland League and experience life here. The idea of being based in Ireland and easily visiting the rest of Europe always appealed to him.
He has already managed to do a bit of that since joining Munster in February, with visits to Greece and Albania – “countries you just wouldn’t think about going to from back home” – being highlights, while he has booked a trip to Cardiff in November with a Kiwi friend to watch the All Blacks play Wales.
His mother and sister came over to Ireland during the summer, while his father will visit in March for a few Munster games when he gets time off work. His younger brother, Ethan, is still in school and playing rugby at St Bede’s College.
Settling in has been made all the easier by his grandparents, uncles and cousins being based up the road in Dublin, where he has spent a few weekends.
O’Donovan moved in with Ruadhán Quinn, Ronan Foxe, Seán Edogbo, and Dylan Hicks last season, but is now living with Charlie O’Shea and Michael Foy in Annacotty, only a few minutes from Munster’s training centre at the University of Limerick. Their next-door neighbour is Will Harrison, and there are other Munster players very close by.
Whatever about enjoying life in Ireland, O’Donovan has hit the ground running when it comes to the rugby.
Having arrived in February, he made his Munster debut off the bench against Exeter in the Challenge Cup in April and was then back-up to Casey all the way through to the URC quarter-final against the Bulls.
He signed on an initial 18-month academy deal but by the end of last season, he had been bumped up to a senior contract that runs until 2028.
O'Donovan has impressed Munster's fans. Dan Clohessy / INPHO
Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO
O’Donovan’s first start for Munster on the opening day of this season against Glasgow was impressive, and he will get his Champions Cup debut off the bench against Racing 92 in Cork tonight.
He has taken his chances so far, although he praises Casey for being a very positive influence on him.
“Craig has been awesome,” says O’Donovan. “He’s been very good in just helping me.
“It’s probably his habits off the field. Like, he is a true, true professional. He nails everything, and then there is stuff like reviewing training and sending me clips.
“After that Glasgow game, I hadn’t even got home yet, and he had sent me a clip, a video of his TV screen and him going, ‘Unbelievable work here,’ so stuff like that.
“He’s obviously willing to really help me, which is cool.”
O’Donovan has enjoyed working with assistant coach Jared Payne, a fellow Kiwi, since he joined in the summer to run Munster’s set-piece attack.
As we saw against Glasgow, Payne is happy to back O’Donovan’s running game as a key strike weapon.
“We were talking about it leading into that week,” said O’Donovan. “It was like, ‘Jeez, we’re getting a lot of touches on the ball,’ which was cool. Glasgow went down to 14 players, and that opened up a few gaps on the outside.
“Jared’s been unbelievable with our strike-to-score mentality, setting up with some cool strikes, stuff that I haven’t seen before, and he’s made it really clear for both backs and forwards who we’re getting to, where we’re targeting.”
That performance against Glasgow earned O’Donovan plenty of praise and even a few suggestions that he could come onto the radar for Andy Farrell’s Ireland if he keeps his upward trajectory going.
There’s a small pool of players in Ireland, of course, but O’Donovan isn’t getting too excited on that front yet.
“It’s probably a long-term sort of goal,” he said of the prospect of playing for Ireland.
“I guess the pinnacle for any athlete is to do well and play at the highest level. But that’s probably not at the forefront of my mind at the moment. Just play well for Munster and go well in the competitions here.
“I guess for myself it’s something to look forward to and strive towards, and see how it goes down the line.”
One step at a time. His Champions Cup debut awaits tonight at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a stadium he has visited a couple of times before.
O’Donovan was there for a Cork v Limerick hurling game, “which I couldn’t get over, like, unbelievable,” and also for a Zach Bryan concert.
Now he’s set for his own chance to run out and make an impression at the Páirc.
“Speaking to Craig and a few others, obviously the stadium’s a lot bigger than what the field is, so the dimensions will be something to figure out, kicking the ball out and stuff,” said O’Donovan. “Your markers are a bit further back.”
The evidence so far suggests that O’Donovan will find his feet quickly.
'I had a Munster jersey when I was growing up, and it would annoy my mum'
BEN O’DONOVAN WAS sitting in the New Zealand U20s’ team hotel in Cape Town in July 2024 when he got an unexpected tap on the shoulder.
The Kiwis had just beaten their Irish counterparts in the World Rugby U20 Championship third-place play-off, and Ireland were staying at the same hotel.
The teams were relaxing and enjoying a few drinks after a long, tough tournament.
Scrum-half O’Donovan came off the bench for New Zealand in that game against Ireland. Little did he know that imposing Irish number eight Brian Gleeson, loosehead prop Emmet Calvey, lock Luke Murphy, fullback Ben O’Connor – who “carved us up” – and replacement back row Seán Edogbo would later be his Munster team-mates.
“Actually, Jake O’Riordan was on the bench and we exchanged shorts after the match,” said O’Donovan this week ahead of his Champions Cup debut for Munster off the bench against Racing 92 today [KO 8pm, Premier Sports].
“I brought those Irish shorts over here with me, and Jake was like, ‘Are they my shorts?’”
It was that night in the hotel in South Africa that first sparked the possibility of his move to Ireland.
He had grown up aiming to play for the Crusaders and All Blacks, but having been born in Ireland, there was sometimes a thought at the back of his mind that there could be a route in rugby for him outside of New Zealand.
It was Peter Smyth, then the IRFU’s head of performance pathways, who tapped O’Donovan’s shoulder, interrupting his post-match beers for a chat.
Smyth had a list of players on other teams at the U20 World Championship who were Irish-eligible, and O’Donovan was on it. Smyth is a St Mary’s College RFC man, and he knew some of O’Donovan’s family, with his mother, Ruth, hailing from Dublin and his uncles involved with the club.
They had a quick discussion about O’Donovan’s plans and exchanged details. But the young scrum-half flew home to New Zealand the next day and hadn’t given it much further thought until an email from Smyth popped up in December 2025.
In the meantime, O’Donovan had been contracted to the Canterbury provincial union, but injury meant he hadn’t been able to break through in 2025. He had hoped to earn a training contract with the Crusaders, yet the Super Rugby franchise looked elsewhere.
“I had finished my degree that month at uni,” said O’Donovan. “I studied environmental science, and so I was scrolling, looking for jobs, seeing if I could find any jobs for the summer and whatnot.
“But three days later, I got the email from Peter Smyth asking if I’d be interested in coming over.”
O’Donovan was interested. He flew to Ireland in January 2026 and spent a week on trial with Munster before a week with Ulster. He enjoyed both stints and both provinces were keen, so O’Donovan returned to Christchurch with a decision to make.
A fortnight later, having sold his car and decided that he would chase his professional career in Ireland rather than hang around hoping for a belated contract offer from the Crusaders, O’Donovan was on his way back to Munster.
“I guess Clayton [McMillan, Munster's head coach] had some good things to say, and I was pretty excited to come over,” said O’Donovan.
“I had enjoyed my week down here. The likes of Alex [Nankivell] and Craig [Casey] were very good, very welcoming. I had a few chats with Martyn Vercoe, our manager, and Clayton.
“Clayton was just saying, ‘There is an opportunity here for you. We see you fitting into some of our plans nicely.’
“I guess I was a different sort of halfback to what they had at the time with Craig, Ethan [Coughlan] and Patsy [Paddy Patterson] last year, who I guess are smaller in stature compared to myself, a little bit bigger.
“So they felt like I had a running game that could be used here. That was cool to hear, and I was excited about that.
“I enjoyed my time up in Ulster too. Richie Murphy was very good and I got on well with some of the lads up there, but probably for my game, it was a bit better suited here.”
O’Donovan was born in Dublin, his mother’s home city, but his Kiwi father, Daniel O’Donovan, has strong roots in Timoleague, West Cork.
Having been able to get an Irish passport thanks to those connections, Daniel came over to Dublin to play rugby when he was a young fella. He joined Suttonians RFC, where he was on the same team as Ruth’s brother, which resulted in an introduction to Ruth.
Daniel later played with Ashbourne RFC in Meath, but the young family moved to New Zealand when Ben was four, setting up in Christchurch.
When O’Donovan was 11, he and his family – he has a younger sister and a younger brother – came to Ireland on holiday, spending some time in Timoleague and Clonakilty.
“My dad was always Munster,” said O’Donovan.
“I had this Munster jersey when I was growing up, and it would annoy the hell out of my mum because she was like, ‘You were born in Leinster.’”
O’Donovan knew about New Zealand internationals like Christian Cullen, Doug Howlett and Malakai Fekitoa playing for Munster, meaning there was always an interest in the province.
He loved playing cricket too, but rugby was serious business as he came through St Bede’s College in Christchurch, then went on to help the Crusaders to the Super Rugby U20 title in 2024 before he played for the New Zealand U20s.
It’s not a huge surprise that O’Donovan played a bit of rugby in the centre when he was still at school, although he was predominantly a scrum-half. His powerful running game remains a key strength.
“I was a big fan of TJ Perenara,” said O’Donovan.
“Obviously, Aaron Smith was kind of the pinnacle halfback over in New Zealand, but I probably suited more of my game towards TJ, a bigger kind of running halfback, kind of base myself on running those nice lines back in.
“And then recently, Noah Hotham [of the Crusaders], probably similar builds. [Cam] Roigard as well, he’s kind of a bigger halfback so they’re probably some of the recent halfbacks you look up to, but when I was growing up, it was TJ.”
Although he aspired to emulate Perenara and other All Blacks scrum-halves, there was always an attraction to Ireland for O’Donovan, who supported Irish teams whenever the Kiwis weren’t playing.
Had he not made it as a professional rugby player, he reckons he would have come to Ireland at some stage to play in the All-Ireland League and experience life here. The idea of being based in Ireland and easily visiting the rest of Europe always appealed to him.
He has already managed to do a bit of that since joining Munster in February, with visits to Greece and Albania – “countries you just wouldn’t think about going to from back home” – being highlights, while he has booked a trip to Cardiff in November with a Kiwi friend to watch the All Blacks play Wales.
His mother and sister came over to Ireland during the summer, while his father will visit in March for a few Munster games when he gets time off work. His younger brother, Ethan, is still in school and playing rugby at St Bede’s College.
Settling in has been made all the easier by his grandparents, uncles and cousins being based up the road in Dublin, where he has spent a few weekends.
O’Donovan moved in with Ruadhán Quinn, Ronan Foxe, Seán Edogbo, and Dylan Hicks last season, but is now living with Charlie O’Shea and Michael Foy in Annacotty, only a few minutes from Munster’s training centre at the University of Limerick. Their next-door neighbour is Will Harrison, and there are other Munster players very close by.
Whatever about enjoying life in Ireland, O’Donovan has hit the ground running when it comes to the rugby.
Having arrived in February, he made his Munster debut off the bench against Exeter in the Challenge Cup in April and was then back-up to Casey all the way through to the URC quarter-final against the Bulls.
He signed on an initial 18-month academy deal but by the end of last season, he had been bumped up to a senior contract that runs until 2028.
O’Donovan’s first start for Munster on the opening day of this season against Glasgow was impressive, and he will get his Champions Cup debut off the bench against Racing 92 in Cork tonight.
He has taken his chances so far, although he praises Casey for being a very positive influence on him.
“Craig has been awesome,” says O’Donovan. “He’s been very good in just helping me.
“It’s probably his habits off the field. Like, he is a true, true professional. He nails everything, and then there is stuff like reviewing training and sending me clips.
“After that Glasgow game, I hadn’t even got home yet, and he had sent me a clip, a video of his TV screen and him going, ‘Unbelievable work here,’ so stuff like that.
“He’s obviously willing to really help me, which is cool.”
O’Donovan has enjoyed working with assistant coach Jared Payne, a fellow Kiwi, since he joined in the summer to run Munster’s set-piece attack.
As we saw against Glasgow, Payne is happy to back O’Donovan’s running game as a key strike weapon.
“We were talking about it leading into that week,” said O’Donovan. “It was like, ‘Jeez, we’re getting a lot of touches on the ball,’ which was cool. Glasgow went down to 14 players, and that opened up a few gaps on the outside.
“Jared’s been unbelievable with our strike-to-score mentality, setting up with some cool strikes, stuff that I haven’t seen before, and he’s made it really clear for both backs and forwards who we’re getting to, where we’re targeting.”
That performance against Glasgow earned O’Donovan plenty of praise and even a few suggestions that he could come onto the radar for Andy Farrell’s Ireland if he keeps his upward trajectory going.
There’s a small pool of players in Ireland, of course, but O’Donovan isn’t getting too excited on that front yet.
“It’s probably a long-term sort of goal,” he said of the prospect of playing for Ireland.
“I guess the pinnacle for any athlete is to do well and play at the highest level. But that’s probably not at the forefront of my mind at the moment. Just play well for Munster and go well in the competitions here.
“I guess for myself it’s something to look forward to and strive towards, and see how it goes down the line.”
One step at a time. His Champions Cup debut awaits tonight at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a stadium he has visited a couple of times before.
O’Donovan was there for a Cork v Limerick hurling game, “which I couldn’t get over, like, unbelievable,” and also for a Zach Bryan concert.
Now he’s set for his own chance to run out and make an impression at the Páirc.
“Speaking to Craig and a few others, obviously the stadium’s a lot bigger than what the field is, so the dimensions will be something to figure out, kicking the ball out and stuff,” said O’Donovan. “Your markers are a bit further back.”
The evidence so far suggests that O’Donovan will find his feet quickly.
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