Ian Costello on Munster debutants: 'Their stock has risen. They have put themselves into conversations'

Costello turned out to be the ideal man to watch over his academy young guns and their integration with the natural leaders of the group

RESCUE ACT: Munster’s Keith Earls stops Thomas Young from touching down for a first half Wasps try during yesterday’s Heineken Champions Cup Pool B match in Coventry. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

There were times during this spellbinding rollercoaster ride of a game that onlookers must have wondered what preposterous twist could possibly happen next.

That it was a contest that even got to its appointed kick-off time was a minor miracle in itself given the Covid-19 positives experienced in both camps. Yet whereas Wasps had a strong squad of Premiership-proven talent to call on, albeit at a very late hour, for this Heineken Champions Cup opener on home turf, Munster’s decision a fortnight ago not to pursue loan signings and instead delve deep into its academy and beyond to augment the nine internationals available to them was taking their organisation into the dark unknown.