Charlie O’Shea shines for Munster on encouraging weekend for Irish provinces

After the four provinces lost on an opening weekend for the first time since 2009, when Ireland’s summer tourists were still on the sidelines, the tourists’ gradual return sparked a more encouraging second round of the United Rugby Championship, with just one province suffering a loss. The quartet remain in the bottom half of the table, but each could take positives from their latest outings.Connacht welcomed back six of their seven-strong summer tour contingent, with Billy Bohan and Sam Illo locking a key scrum as Benetton pushed for a two-score lead entering the last 10 minutes. But then a second try for Ciarán Frawley, on his debut for the province, secured a 22-19 bonus-point win, the westerners’ first victory at Stadio Monigo since April 2022.“It’s a huge result, to get five points away from home in Treviso,” said Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster. “I’ve never come here at any point in my career and had an easy game. We had so many players playing the first game for a long time, and we had a lot of combinations not having played together, Ciarán [Frawley] obviously being one at 10. There’s always going to be that element of clunkiness and rustiness. But we dug in there, we got the win and I’m delighted for the lads.”Lancaster said of Frawley: “It’s a dream start for him. He managed the game really well. He saw space in the backfield early on. As a 10 he put in a really accomplished performance. But it wasn’t just that, it’s his involvement and his enthusiasm off the field, how he’s conducted himself and integrated with the lads, how he’s trained. So, it’s been a huge bonus for us.READ MORE“It allows me to mix and match with Josh Ioane. He made a big impact at 15, which is obviously a great change up for us, and Sam Gilbert went to 13. We’ve got Harry West and Byron Ralston injured, but Bundee [Aki] will be around next week.”“Italy last week, Scotland next week,” added Lancaster before a long trek home to Galway and in advance of next Friday’s game away to another international bulk supplier in Glasgow.Munster beat the Bulls 26-22 at Thomond Park on Saturday thanks to a stunning, two-try, man-of-the-match full debut by 20-year-old academy outhalf Charlie O’Shea. In front of an attendance of 10,318, such a shot in the arm was timely on the back of the positivity generated by a rebooted coaching ticket.“It was just unbelievable,” said O’Shea. “I probably got lucky there with one of the tries but the fans were great. It’s the loudest crowd I have played in front of and they really gave us energy there to kick on and get the win.”Munster face Ulster in Belfast next Saturday (5.30pm) after the latter shared 10 tries in a 33-all draw in Glasgow. Leinster picked up a third bonus point from their early-season trek to South Africa, two more than last season, after a 26-20 loss to the Sharks in Durban.They will welcome back a tranche of Ireland frontliners for next Saturday’s first competitive outing at the redeveloped Laya Arena in more than two years when hosting Cardiff (kick-off 7.45pm).