Anthony Foley expects John Andress and Darren O’Shea to provide valuable service
On the day the province stood down Australian second row Mark Chisholm for the rest of the season, following a concussion, Munster announced 6ft 9in lock O’Shea, 23, would be heading home after two seasons with English Premiership side Worcester Warriors.
Andress, 32, will join from Edinburgh on a one-year deal and is one of rugby’s needles in a haystack, an experienced tighthead prop who qualifies for Ireland.
Belfast-born, raised in Ulster’s ranks and a former Ireland U21 and A international, Andress played for Exeter, Worcester, and Harlequins before moving to Edinburgh in 2014.
And with South African tighthead BJ Botha exiting at the end of the season, Munster head coach Foley believes his experience will be invaluable.
“He’s come across as a very good scrummager, he’s Irish and you know he couples there well,” Foley said.
“He’s a very abrasive player and a very good scrummager and hopefully we’ll see that in our team.
“He’s a guy that we’ve watched and played against a couple of times and our looseheads know they’ve had a day out when they come up against him in the Edinburgh squad.
“He’s very experienced. He’s not a young fella and he’s a lot of time under his belt, and that bodes well for us.”
Just days after fielding a homegrown starting XV against Zebre, Munster yesterday announced O’Shea would be rejoining them from Worcester on a two-year contract.
Foley said he hoped the Crosshaven player’s English experience in a Championship-winning campaign, the Premiership, and Challenge Cup would benefit the province that nurtured his talent, only to see him leave in 2014 with his progress blocked by a raft of seasoned second rows.
“Darren has come through our academy and would have looked at what was in front of him at that stage and felt that he needed to go elsewhere to get that experience.
"He’s got that experience now and thankfully he’s decided to come back.
“We’ve kept in touch... we’ve kept a good eye on him, we would have come across him last year in the B&I Cup when Worcester played Munster without having to go over and have a look at him which we’ve also done.
"He’s on our doorstep as well.
“He’s more experienced now, he’s a bigger, older man, hopefully we get the value of that time he’s had over there in a different rugby environment.”
Munster yesterday handed former Wallaby lock Chisholm an extended break from the game, following the concussion he sustained against Newport Gwent Dragons on March 5.
“Chis took a nasty bang just before half time against the Dragons and just didn’t get through his return-to-play protocols,” Foley said.
“There was further investigation and the best advice was to give him an extended leave and see will everything settle down for him.”
