O'Donoghue driving development at Munster

The young No.8 scored one of his side's three tries in their 33-16 GUINNESS PRO12 victory over Cardiff Blues on Saturday, a game in which a trio of academy representatives featured.

O'Donoghue's performance places him in contention for Munster's PRO12 trip to Scarlets this weekend, and veteran O'Callaghan has praised the Ireland U20 captain's influence on some of the club's other future prospects.

"He's great, he's super around the environment and he's a leader already," O'Callaghan told the Munster website.

"He's bringing on the guys in the Academy with him, his mates that he's hung around with have seen him make it and they will think, 'Jack's made the jump, so I can too.'

"That's great - I remember for us Peter Stringer started to get picked and a few of us said that if Strings is getting picked then I can put my hand up too.

"You can't beat the home-grown guys that care. Rugby in many places is turning into a budget game but as long as we've got guys that care we'll be alright."

Munster currently sit second in the PRO12 standings, with key games against current table-toppers Glasgow Warriors and title-rivals Ospreys following Saturday's trip to the Parc y Scarlets.

For O'Callaghan, there is no ignoring the importance of the coming fixtures as they chase a home semi-final in May.

"We've a massive four week block now where we lose the likes of Conor (Murray), Pete (O'Mahony) and Paulie (O'Connell), so it's up to the other guys to step up now and put in massive performances to ensure that we're in the shake up," he added.

"We take it game by game and this week all we can think of is Scarlets.

"I respect them massively, they always put in massive performances and they go beyond themselves."

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