These have been unusual and testing times for the Munster players and back-up staff. For the frontliners obliged to isolate in either Cape Town or Ireland it must have been particularly odd watching the mixture of internationals and academy players representing the province in that mighty win over Wasps last Sunday week.
A mixture of envy and pride, perhaps?
“It was unbelievable,” was how Jack O’Donoghue, one of those watching from a hotel room, described it, and added another twist to the experience.
“The excitement that I had sitting at home watching that game, it was like I was a teenager again, sitting in Thomond Park watching one of these miracle matches.
“The joy I had for those young lads making their debuts, I’ve seen the work that they put in, the extras they’re doing after training and to be able to see them get their opportunity and perform so well, it was really satisfying and really enjoyable to watch I think we all agree.”
The victory and performance by a matchday squad featuring a dozen debutants, including eight Academy players, also laid a marker form some of those, like O’Donoghue, who were fortunate enough to return against Castres last Saturday night.
“Yeah, absolutely. That’s always the case and I think that’s what makes a strong squad. When you have 50 lads competing for places and when someone steps away, that someone steps into their shoes or into their position and there’s no drop-off in intensity or physicality or in standards.
“And that’s what is going to drive this group forward leading into the New Year,” said O’Donoghue, with Munster having a run of three derbies in a row at home to Leinster and Ulster either side of a trek up the road to Connacht.
O’Donoghue’s relief to be through it all and back playing is palpable.
“It’s been an incredibly challenging last four or five weeks; a lot of disruption. We stayed in touch, we were broken up into three separate groups there at one stage. We had WhatsApp groups, we had travelling groups and stuff like that. We all kept in touch.
“We all were able to help each other out in any way possible, be it picking up the phone and having a Facetime with someone who might be still sitting in isolation. I went through it myself in isolation so there’s a lot of hours in the day and just picking up the phone and chatting to someone, making sure they’re all right, because it takes its toll mentally, absolutely.”
“I was in a hotel so certainly you’re on your own in the room for a lot of hours of the day but I think once we got back to Ireland and the lads were preparing for Wasps, we were able to dial into all the meetings and that kept us on our schedule as such so that when they were in the meetings, we were in the meetings too.
“So we were following the schedule as normal so that when we came back into the HPC it wasn’t too disorientating or anything like that. And certainly it helped pass the hours because when the lads were training you were able to do a workout in the room and you knew that everyone was working behind the scenes even though there was no-one keeping themselves accountable.”
The Castres game was O’Donoghue’s first in eight weeks, as was the case for the other four players recalled to the starting lineup and the eight replacements. He admitted the first 20 minutes was a bit of a shock to his system before he had his second wind. O’Donoghue’s fine finish in the corner (surprisingly his first Euro try) ultimately sealed the victory.
“I was delighted, I think I got 70 minutes under my belt and that will stand to me leading into the next few games in this block.”
Nor does O’Donoghue subscribe to the theory that Munster’s season has barely started.
“No, no. I think we had a really positive first block. Yes, there’s been a big lapse of time but for me personally I think that gave my body plenty of time to recover and I’m uber-excited to hit the ground running again.
“It feels like maybe we did have a mini pre-season there for the last few weeks but I think there’s massive excitement now and hunger for game time.
“I think it’s been an incredible two weeks for the organisation, to see the lads from the AIL, the uncontracted lads; to Pat Campbell who’s just come into his first year in the academy to keep his starting position in the XV, it’s a massive positive for us.
“It puts us in a really good place going forward and not just this season but next season and so on.”
