Munster's Ethan Coughlan continuing to bridge the gap between Ennis and Limerick

The 22-year-old is making an impression with the southern province.

STEPPING UP: Ethan Coughlan during Munster training at UL this week. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Sometimes the greatest distance a player can cover is in their head. Ethan Coughlan has found his feet in the Munster setup now, but in December of 2020 he was an 18-year old kid out of Ennis RFC trying to find his way in the professional game.

He looks back now and sees a teenager walking through the doors into a "nerve-racking” experience. He had no clue what to expect and he was training with players he admired growing up. This was equal parts cool and surreal.

“It was sink or swim in a way as well,” he said this week.

“It was kind of like a dream come true because I remember my first-ever session was the day Mur [Conor Murray]was named in the [World Rugby] team of the decade. I remember standing next to him in the session and thinking, ‘Jeez, this is really cool’.

“Him, Zeebs and Earlsy would have been the three I would have admired growing up, just in nine and wing link-up play on breakdowns. The stuff they could do to an opposition was really cool. It literally made young guys come to Thomond Park to watch them play rugby.” 

Coughlan is still in the process of moving up the ladder at Munster and yet he understands that some of the youngsters that spot him on his regular returns to Ennis probably look up to him as a provincial pro in much the same way he did others in the past.

He went back to do a coaching session with the Ennis U14s last year and still gets up the road from Limerick to meet friends and parents and have a drink while chatting about the days when they were U16s making their own way.

Now 22, he played on a hugely successful Ennis side through his teens. They won a stream of competitions from U13 through to U18. An U16 All-Ireland final loss to Tullow and an U18 cup semi-final were the two that got away.

It was a side that drew on talent from all of Clare. Among his teammates were current Munster clubmate Tony Butler and former Munster academy player Conor Moloney who is now playing his rugby with Young Munster.

All three made their senior provincial debuts in the Covid-affected Champions Cup game away to Wasps three years ago when, with most of the squad stuck in South Africa, the province threw together their internationals and 12 rookies and pulled off a famous win.

“It was all of our first appearances in a massive week for the club. It was really cool to do that with Conor and Tony because they were lads I grew up with. I played hurling and football with Tony as well in Barefield.

“We've known each other since we were 11 or 12, definitely, grew up five minutes from each other. Tony's dad Ken was one of our coaches with Ennis and we always played nine and 10 together, so it was kind of a cool connection.” 

It’s a string to this bow that he realises could come in handy given Munster’s willingness to go with a 6:2 bench split at times but the focus remains squarely on pushing his case in a scrum-half position where Munster are light for now on experience.

Craig Casey is still injured and that means Murray can’t be spared by Ireland through the Six Nations, even on a down week like this one, as the province preps for the URC visit to Thomond Park on Saturday of the Scarlets.

Coughlan has already featured seven times this season, starting four. That’s his most yet in a season that is still only half-done. Paddy Patterson is the only other senior nine on deck right now with Jake Oliver and Jack O’Riordan still in the academy.

This is a time to shine.

“For me, it's massively important because it's probably my shop window. I know Craig is injured at the moment but Craig and Mur have been in national camps for the last three or four years together.

“It's challenging competing with the likes of Patsy [Patterson], Jack and Jake but for me, personally, it's the biggest kind of opportunity for the year to put my best foot forward, train as well as possible, learn as much as possible.”