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Craig Casey is one of three NTS graduates alongside Leinster second-row Ryan Baird and Ulster tighthead prop Tom O’Toole currently in Ireland’s Six Nations squad

IRFU Head of Elite Player Development Peter Smyth, was Munster 'A' coach last year. Here he is pictured during the inter-pro clash with Leinster 'A'. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

The glowing endorsement for the IRFU’s National Training Squad system offered unprompted recently by Craig Casey will have been music to Peter Smyth’s ears.

The Munster scrum-half, 21, is one of 25 players across Ireland’s four provinces whose progress has taken them from the NTS into the senior ranks of the professional game, and that is a point of pride in a recently streamlined elite player pathway overseen by the IRFU Head of Elite Player Development Smyth.