When there’s a tussle to secure the “signature”, so to speak, of a young player just going into fifth year in secondary school you can be sure that you’re dealing with a special talent. Or, more accurately, special potential. Ben O’Connor has been identified as a key player for Cork GAA’s senior team since his days as a minor. He captained the team to an All-Ireland victory as a transition year student, and Cork Hurling has been eager to include him in their core lineup from as early as this winter once he was finished with school.

At the same time, O’Connor was making waves in rugby for PBC at an age and “rugby level” that defied logic for a player so new to the sport, relatively speaking. Physically, all the reasons O’Connor excelled at hurling applied equally to rugby. He’s 6’3″/95kg at 19 years of age and unbelievably athletic and explosive at that size with the usual great spatial awareness that you get with GAA-honed athletes.

Cork GAA and Munster Rugby wanted Ben O’Connor for broadly the same reason; he’s a natural sportsman and a gifted, explosive modern athlete.

One look at O’Connor during this season’s Munster Senior Cup would tell you that his decision on his future was made relatively early. He’s already putting on the size that the modern rugby player needs, be they a back or a forward. O’Connor’s pro-rugby future is very much in the outside backs with the only real question being “where”.

Alan Tynan, the last hurling prodigy to enter the Munster academy, found it difficult to scale up beyond the underage level and, latterly, the AIL where he was a constant feature for Young Munster at both fullback and, interestingly, out half. For Munster A he could be seen at #12, #15 and #10 the odd time.

In theory, Tynan could have flitted between all three slots and added a viable second playmaker roleset to his game wherever he was selected as befitting his natural sporting ability but it didn’t work out that way. Tynan was a good kicker of the ball, a good athlete and a good playmaker up to a point but he hit a wall when it came to size. At 5’11 and 80KG, he struggled to force the compressions he’d need

He’s the perfect hurler – just look at how he’s snapped right back into the highest level since he’s gone back to Tipperary GAA – but backs, even wingers, need to have a physical profile these days. It’s not enough to just have solid fundamentals and natural ability, you need to be a physical monster or explosive – ideally both – if you want to make it in the modern game.

Ben O’Connor is one of those rare explosive monsters who, at 19 and straight out of school, has a physical and in-game profile that marks him as one of the best prospects anywhere in the country in the last 10 years.

There are a few competing ideas as to O’Connor’s best position. A few people I’ve spoken to think he’d be really good at centre for Munster, given his size profile and a few of his in-game qualities but the more I watch him, the less sure of that I am. He’s the perfect modern full-back which is the position he’s been playing for Pres over the last two seasons.

Now, there’s nothing to say that he couldn’t do a Robbie Henshaw and move to the midfield on a more regular basis, but for the time being at least it’s worth investing minutes into him at fullback.

For a start, he’s got a massive boot on him which he uses off the tee, out of hand from penalties and restarts and in open-play. This kick travels a mile in the air before it ever starts rolling, clean over the head of the CBC #10.

Notice O’Connor is also the first guy up to affect the chase, despite being behind almost every other player when he kicked the ball – this is the kind of athletic profile we’re talking about here. Even the kick itself is the perfect line puller in that it bounces over the head of the backfield guard and stops up right on the tryline.

Moving him into midfield would reduce the impact of his genuinely outstanding kicking range.

He’s a really good runner and handler at the edge of the play too which, at fullback, is a position he’d naturally file into. Watch the depth he finds and keeps in this phase before drawing the defender and passing around him.

Looks pretty simple but when you consider that rugby wasn’t his primary sporting focus over the months before and after this, you get an appreciation for the game sense that O’Connor has already at 19. Like I said though – he’s a natural sportsman used to playing a game that takes place over a far larger area at a much higher speed so if it looks like he’s a guy with “time”, it’s because he does.

When you combine this game sense with his explosive pace and physicality, you’ve got a potent mix.

Look at his late line here – so difficult to live with at his size – but he’s got the skillset to get the offload away post-contact too.

Again – this is a guy relatively new to the sport who has far more minutes playing high-level underage intercounty hurling than he has playing rugby in the last three years. What will he be like training with professionals every day, every week, for entire seasons?

That’s the tantalising thing.

He’s already incredibly explosive and covers so much ground with his long, rangy stride. Look at how he beats the Munchins’ #12 with his push onto the ball (with the ball in both hands) but, not only that, he’s got the skill set to get the pass away in close quarters too.

That athletic capacity is most visible in the back three and you could see how he might interact with Patrick Campbell as an Outside Winger in the system Munster have been using this season.

Look at the way O’Connor explodes into space here;

There’s no stopping him there if that pass sticks. He’s big, he’s hardy and he’s got a burst of acceleration and top-end pace that puts him in fairly rarefied air nationally. There are guys faster than him – not many – but none of those guys have his boot or his size coming out of secondary school.

When you also consider how comfortable he is handling the ball, offloading and picking ultra-dangerous edge lines, along with his kicking game you can see why Munster were pursuing him so long.

Defensively, O’Connor has the size and counter-rucking ability to make great stops when he’s one on one with almost everyone but he does need a bit of refining positionally in his backfield coverage – that will come with time and reps. Aerially, O’Connor looks really good but there are a few consistency issues there that will be ironed out with a full commitment to the sport.

In short, keep an eye on this guy because he’s got Alex Kendellen levels of potential when it comes to being physically ready for this sport at a ridiculously young age. Ben O’Connor, with an injury-free run, will play for Ireland by the time he’s 22. I really do believe that.

Coming Next Week – The Young Bucks :: Brian Gleeson