IT WASN’T CLEAR who would emerge as second in line to Craig Casey at scrum-half in Munster this season, but very few people could have predicted that Ben O’Donovan would be that man.

That’s for the simple fact that he was still living in New Zealand when Munster’s campaign got underway.

O’Donovan played for the New Zealand U20s in 2024, but the IRFU kept an eye on him due to the fact that the lively halfback was born in Dublin.

He moved with his family to New Zealand at a young age and rose through the Kiwi rugby pathway, but the Irish union had a sense that he might be lured back here.

The 21-year-old arrived in January on the IRFU’s invitation and did trials with some of the Irish provinces, including Munster, who were convinced that O’Donovan could play a part for them.

O’Donovan, who is still Irish-qualified despite his U20 appearances for New Zealand, joined Munster formally in February on an 18-month deal and has worked his way onto the bench for their two most recent games against Exeter and Benetton. 

He has had short cameos in both of those games and will support Casey from the bench again tomorrow as Munster host Ulster at Thomond Park. 

He is making a good early impression under fellow Kiwi and Munster head coach Clayton McMillan.

“I hadn’t had a lot to do with Ben prior to him coming to Ireland,” said McMillan yesterday.

“I knew of him, probably my job [as Chiefs head coach] to have an awareness around young up-and-coming talent in the country.

“He played for New Zealand U20s and is a byproduct of the Crusaders academy and system, which has proven to be a pretty successful breeding ground.

“We were aware of his Irish ancestry. So I think he came up here and visited a number of provinces. And we saw enough in him to effectively take a punt and invite him back.

O'Donovan on his Munster debut against Exeter. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

“I think that one or two other provinces may have made similar offers, but he elected to come here.

“And he’s just made every post a winner. He’s fit in well to the group. He’s obviously competed against other people for an opportunity to get in the matchday 23, and made a good fist of it when he has played.

“He hasn’t played huge minutes, but we like that he’s been calm and measured.

“He’s got a good pass. His decision-making has been good. So, yeah, he gets rewarded for what we’re seeing on the training field and the limited opportunities he’s been given in the game.”

It remains to be seen how things pan out for O’Donovan, who had never played a game at professional level in New Zealand, but he is currently being picked ahead of senior scrum-halves Paddy Patterson and Ethan Coughlan.

He has only played 24 minutes of rugby for Munster, but seems to be taking to pro rugby without much fuss.

“You never quite know until you chuck someone into the big pond, how people are going to go,” said McMillan.

“History tells us that some people take a little bit of time to make that adjustment from, say, amateur or club rugby to professional ranks, but like I said, he’s a pretty diligent young man.

“He gets over his detail and, yeah, he has seemed like he has taken to it like a duck to water.”

Munster have made one change to their starting XV for tomorrow’s meeting with Ulster, as McMillan looks for them to build on last weekend’s much-needed win away to Benetton.

Oli Jager is back in Munster's starting XV. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Tighthead prop Oli Jager, who came off the bench in that seven-try victory, is promoted to the starting XV.

It will be just the fifth start of the season for Jager, who was sidelined for around three months due to concussion earlier this season, as well as overcoming a foot issue recently.

There were obvious concerns for Jager when he was struggling with concussion, but McMillan is confident that Munster have taken every step possible to help Jager recover. 

“The first thing is that, you know, you never want to be mucking around with people’s heads,” said McMillan.

“And he’s had his fair share of trouble. So we’ve made sure that we looked after him in the best possible way.

“He’s come back really, really strong, and we’ve got some really good external support around, you know, clinical, specialist help around concussions over in the States, and that’s been really helpful for Oli.

“Identified a few things that probably were new to him that he could work off in his own time to help build up, I guess, his resilience around brain, and he’s in a really good space.

“But even now, we’re still managing his minutes. I mean, he got 40 minutes off the bench last week. He’s starting this week, anticipate he’d probably play around about the same amount of minutes.

“But, you know, you don’t have a team if you don’t have a tighthead in this game, and he’s pretty important to this environment, so it’s great that he’s out on the rugby field.”