JACK O’DONOGHUE WAS best known for his ball-carrying ability as he first broke through with Munster back in 2014.
He still has the dynamism and mobility to be a threat with ball in hand but his game is about much more these days. Still only 25, the Waterford man demonstrated as much in his impactful 20-minute stint off the bench against Saracens yesterday in Thomond Park.
His first big moment was one that is becoming increasingly typical, as O’Donoghue fought through a Saracens maul to engulf the ball, choking it up to force a turnover scrum.
The versatile back row forward has become one of the best maul defenders in Ireland as he has matured, making a specialty of wreaking havoc as the opposition look for gains in the tight.
Even more eye-catching was O’Donoghue’s lineout steal in the air as Saracens attempted to grab a late, late equalising converted try after Arno Botha had been red-carded.
Former Waterpark RFC man O’Donoghue jumped explosively to pick off the Sarries throw and allow every Munster fan in Thomond Park to breathe a large sigh of relief and head for the exits reasonably content with a 10-3 victory that keeps their bid for a Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final on track.
Munster captain O’Mahony – who O’Donoghue is almost emulating in how his game has morphed – lauded the importance of those big plays from O’Donoghue in the endgame at Thomond Park.
“Jack has been around a long time now, he seems like a young fella but we were only having this discussion yesterday, he’s been playing in a Munster jersey for about seven years now, which is a long time,” said O’Mahony.
“He’s an incredibly important part of the squad. He’s second to none lineout-wise. He’s one of the best lineout operators and jumpers I’ve come across.
“He’s very diligent, professional, a great guy to have in the squad. I don’t think he’s had a poor performance in a long, long term. He shows up week in, week out – a great fella to play alongside.”
O’Donoghue was, of course, making his impact from the bench for Munster and there must have been some disappointment for him as head coach Johann van Graan opted to start Tadhg Beirne in the back row, with Billy Holland in the second row.
Competition for places in the back row is particularly fierce in Munster at present.
“It’s the one area where we are not hit by injury,” said van Graan. “Tommy O’Donnell is pretty unlucky not to get into the 23 at this stage. Hopefully, Chris Cloete will be back [from a head injury] within a week or two.
“CJ and Pete are established internationals and established starters. Tommy and Jack have both done well in that seven spot, and Pete went well there tonight so we’ve got options there.
“It just showed again tonight because of the attrition of the season, you need forwards to come off the bench and that’s what we did.”
