Dan Kelly has found a home where he belongs in Munster

“I'd say it was a pretty easy (decision),” he said this week ahead of Saturday night’s URC derby at home to Connacht.

Munster's Craig Casey celebrates with Dan Kelly. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

From spending time as a guest of Jack Crowley’s family in County Cork to making his Dublin-born grandfather proud in a green jersey, Dan Kelly’s ties to Ireland were already established. Yet moving here this summer from Leicester Tigers to join Munster has cemented a feeling in the Rochdale-born and England-capped centre that this is where he truly belongs.

The 24-year-old who grew up playing amateur rugby league before a place in the Sale academy opened up as a teenager has settled into Irish life quickly, both off the pitch and on, where his performances at both inside and outside centre have caught the eye to the extent the former Under-20 international was on Thursday called up to the Ireland XV squad which will travel to Madrid in a couple of weeks to play Spain in Leganes.