20-year-old Munster loosehead in line for Champions Cup debut

Munster need a serious lift right now and blooding a new loosehead could provide a silver lining.

Anthony Foley's men are in the midst of an on-field crisis and, this week, faced up to their Champions Cup elimination. The immediate measure taken to staunch the flow of negativity arrived on Tuesday when Ireland's Defence Coach [from June 2016] Andy Farrell was parachuted in on a consultancy basis until the end of the season. Further bad news emerged this morning with reports of props BJ Botha and James Cronin nearing the exit door. This would be a good time for a young Munster loosehead to stake a claim for a first-team spot. Step forward Liam O'Connor. The 20-year-old, who featured for Ireland at last summer's Junior World Championship, has been registered in the senior squad for Munster's final two Champions Cup fixtures. Foley has named him on the Munster bench for Saturday's clash with Stade Francais. O'Connor, who played rugby for Christian Brothers College and Dolphin growing up, takes the place of rehabbing prop JP Phelan for the upcoming games against Stade Francais and Treviso. The young prop is currently with Munster's academy squad and has seven British & Irish Cup appearances to his name, as well as a handful of Inter-pro outings. Dave Kilcoyne and John Ryan were Munster's looseheads in the 27-7 humbling against Stade Francais. Neither men picked up serious knocks in that game so O'Connor knows his competition. His best chance may be the final game against Treviso but Foley may opt to place him on the bench to give him a taste of a big European clash at Thomond Park. Elsewhere, Connacht have registered Denis Buckley in their Champions Cup squad ahead of their last two pool games in that competition.