Eighteen months ago, Charlie O’Shea climbed the steps of the main stand at Virgin Media Park in Cork to raise Munster School senior cup. His proud mother, Hilary, had the honor of presenting him with the Garrett Fitzgerald trophy as hundreds of Christian Brothers College students cheered. It was a fitting end to O’Shea’s senior cup cycle. He was CBC’s half-time main through years four, five and six, but lost the 2023 and 2024 finals to local rivals, Presentation Brothers College. He would leave CBC as the captain who won the Schools Cup.
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On Friday, O’Shea shone on his first start with the Munster senior team against the two-time Champions Cup winners Leicester Tigers, in the same place where he lifted the silverware. The 20-year-old grew up playing for the Dolphins and had 15 all-Ireland League appearances for University College Cork last season. He is the last fly-half standing between Munster’s senior and academy teams. The United Rugby Championship the season hasn’t even started.
O’Shea supported Tom Wood (son of Munster legend Keith Wood) for all of this year’s under-20 Six Nations. He had three starts for Andrew Browne’s World Juniors side and six tries in Ireland’s win over the USA. In theory, this would be a season where O’Shea and Wood battled for practice reps and tried to prove their worth behind Jack Crowley, JJ Hanrahan and Will Harrison. Instead, we had O’Shea in the 10 shirt for the visit of Leicester.
Although the rookie pivot had a debut to enjoy, scoring his first Munster try, he remains the greenest of the playmakers. Tony Butler – dropped last summer after five seasons in the senior team – has been called into the fold again. Movement for the upcoming Leinster The fly-half was quickly extinguished, despite a fortune of 10s.
How did Munster get here? What does their lack of options say about where the province is now and why didn’t the IRFU get involved? These are key questions, and any of the answers can leave you feeling uncomfortable.
Crowley has an ongoing problem that has baffled Munster and a host of medics for the past five months. He is suffering from a blood vessel complication that often causes dead leg symptoms and kept him out for the rest of last season and Ireland Nations Championship games. The best case scenario would be for the 26-year-old to return to the URC inter-provincial games over the holiday period.
In releasing Crowley’s prognosis in late August, Munster also stated that “Harrison suffered an aggravation of a knee injury in the pre-season and is being managed by the medical department.”
Wood and Hanrahan each got 40 minutes in Munster’s first pre-season match – an entertaining defeat at La Rochelle. The respective young hope and veteran option are ruled out for the Tigers game. Hanrahan was ruled out after a concussion, while Wood could be sidelined for an extended period after injuring his shoulder during a domestic game. Coach Clayton McMillan said the 20-year-old “picked up a bang”, but the fact he had an MRI scan is a concern. To fill the gap, Butler’s Munster career was given a lifeline. The Garryowen man was part of Ireland’s U20 Grand Slam triumph in 2022 but failed to impress the Munster players during a five-year spell that included 28 appearances. The last chance salon is open for business again.
Harrison’s situation is unfortunate, but Munster were rolling the dice when they signed him. The former Australia U20 star has had a great start to life with the team Waratahs before an unfortunate knee injury ended his Super Rugby season in 2022. He was close to returning to the Tahs for the 2023 campaign when he injured the same knee while playing for club Randwick that April. He returned in 2024 and played seven times for the Waratahs before being released. For the past two years, the 27-year-old has played for the Kintetsu Liners, at 10 and a full-back, in Japan’s second division. To read any update from Harrison that contains the word ‘knee’ is to shudder, expect the worst, then hope for the best.
Doc Connacht lined up Ciarán Frawley to head west, Ulster secured the services of Harlequins’ skilled utility back Jamie Benson, and Leinster staged a homecoming for Joey Carbery, Munster went on a shopping spree for Japanese club rugby. That, more than most statements or observations, tells you where Munster is. They took the tough call to end Butler but could not afford to do the same with Hanrahan after his mid-season return from Connacht. Forward planning may have seen them try to lure Ben Healy back to the province, but Crowley’s situation caught them off guard and most of the better options were locked in contracts. The Cork native is now with Stade Rochelais on a two-year contract.
Operating for a moment in the realm of fantasy, Beauden Barrett could be signed on a three-month deal to see Munster through a rough patch, create a lot of buzz and give the New Zealander a taste of playing in Ireland, like younger brother Jordie.
To get 10 inch quality, in the short term, Munster would have to approach agents with incredible offers. Operating for a moment in the realm of fantasy, Beauden Barrett could be signed on a three-month deal to see Munster through a rough patch, create a lot of buzz and give the New Zealander a taste of playing in Ireland, like younger brother Jordie.
The province, however, is operating on a limited budget and would struggle to put together an attractive proposal without some outside investment or help of the likes secured by Damien de Allende and RG Snyman in 2020, or Malakai Fekitoa in 2022.
A short-term loan is the best option for Munster. It’s something the province has used before, most recently when Lee Barron and Michael Milne arrived in Limerick to help Munster finish the 2024/25 season. The Leinster forwards were due to sign a permanent deal that summer but were allowed to finish the season on loan.
Carbery spent six seasons with Munster but will never return, even with their injury problems. Leinster manager Leo Cullen recently spoke of Carbery being “strong-armed by someone else at the top” to move to Munster in 2018. Carbery only ever wanted a return to Leinster. Despite this, a knee injury sustained in his final season with Bordeaux-Begles means he is not fully fit for the URC launch.
Before the end of last season, knowing Butler’s contract would not be renewed and seeing Leinster’s wealth of options, Munster approached their old rivals with a proposal. They inquired if Caspar Gabriel was available for a season-long move. Gabriel would go up against Sam Prendergast, Harry Byrne and Carbery during the game and Munster sold him as a short-term signing that could benefit both sides. Leinster also rejected the proposal of Gabriel, who made his senior debut against him Zebras in October 2025, it remains in the fold. Last weekend, the Austrian fly-half started alongside Fintan Gunne in a pre-season friendly.
If Leinster could spare a man covering 10, Charlie Tector would be worth a punt. The 24-year-old played most of his senior rugby for Leinster as an inside centre, but was Richie Murphy’s side-half at the U20 Slam four years ago. In recent seasons he has covered the position from the bench but has only one start in the 10 shirt, leading the way in URC’s win over Edinburgh back in January. Leinster would no doubt claim Tector as a key member of the squad. IRFU performance director David Humphreys and Ireland head coach Andy Farrell have preached that provinces need to be flexible about player movement, so it’s surprising Tector didn’t go to Munster. With this season set to be crucial for World Cup qualifiers, younger players with ambitions of breaking through for Ireland would be forgiven for pushing possible loan moves up the mast. Connacht’s Cathal Forde would be another candidate for this.
Getting a medical wild card at this stage would most likely involve contacting clubs and seeing if a deal can be reached. Wages would have to be covered, with some compensation or looking for player replacements. Rory Scannell is set to start his second season with Ealing Trailfinders in the Championship. The 33-year-old has primarily been a center for Munster, but has covered the halves on many occasions, and would still be familiar with most of their systems. Ross Byrne had high hopes when he joined Gloucester but now she’s back-up for Charlie Atkinson. He had the chance to join Munster when Joe Schmidt pressed Leinster to send half the N7. He declined then and perhaps would have preferred to stay and fight for his place at Kingsholm.
Munster hope Hanrahan will be cleared to resume contact ahead of their URC opener at home to Glasgow Warriors on Saturday. For the opening part of the season, with the Bulls, Ulster and Leinster next on the list, it will be O’Shea, Hanrahan and Butler sharing the halves duties. Don’t rule out medical pranksters or loan options, though, especially if the Crowley medical mystery can’t be solved.