I think I have a pretty good strike rate on these Young Bucks articles. Looking back on the articles I’ve put together in this series, I see a tonne of guys that have ended up as serious players for Munster, Ireland or both.

Here’s my article on Gavin Coombes from 2019 with another article from 2017 linked inside it. I finished that article with;

Outside of these little bits, I think Coombes is right where he needs to be at 21 years of age. He’s got some good pro experience under his belt and, with some luck with injury, should go well beyond his eight appearances next season. Ball-carrying forwards start coming to the fore at the age of 23/24 so he has time yet but he needs consistent game time and responsibility to grow his skillset from here. If he gets it, there’s a very good player waiting for Munster and Ireland in a season or two.

Coombes had his breakout season two years later at 23 and hasn’t looked back since.

Here’s my Young Bucks article on Craig Casey. Here’s my article on Alex Kendellen. I did three articles on Jack Crowley back in 2020 during the pandemic! My point is – I’ve covered some serious young players who, in quite a short period of time after the time of writing, have ended up making a pretty big impact.

So when I tell you that Brian Gleeson is in the same category as the players mentioned above, understand that I do it knowing that there’s an element of hype that will come with it. It’s my opinion that Gleeson has the capacity to be a player of a similar scale to the others I’ve mentioned above and, barring injury, we could see him as a URC regular as soon as next season, his first as a member of the Munster Academy.

At just 19 years of age, Gleeson is one of those early intake guys who missed out almost purely because of how young he was last year when he left school. He had just turned 18 in the summer of 2022 and, while he was in the NTS, Munster wanted to see how he went for the year outside the full academy. This wasn’t without risk, as the giant Loughmore man was, by all accounts, heavily pursued by Connacht in that time but Munster knew what they had. There were a few rough edges to buff out with Gleeson, for sure. He had to get into the work rate required for a guy in his role, primarily, but all the raw materials were there.

Gleeson is 6’5″ and in the ballpark of 105kg at 19, with a frame that can support heavier again. As for toughness and work rate, I’ll put it to you like this; I got to see a lot of Brian Gleeson this year for Garryowen in Division 1A and, despite getting relegated, Gleeson was a standout performer in the games he was available for outside of his u20 commitments at both #8 and in the second row.

In fact, that’s about the best way to describe Gleeson’s possible role set – a lock/#8 hybrid, with just a few small things to be cleared up in the next few weeks before we get a proper view of his potential usage.

His strengths are pretty clearly in the second-row wheelhouse but with enough speed, lateral movement and agility to successfully land in the back row.

Look at his scrummaging at # 8 for an example – he’s got the agility to start high and finish long and low with a strong bind on his two locks.

It’s a small thing, but if you have a guy that can give you that kind of pressure at 6’5″, it adds a lot to your scrum. Gleeson gets that aspect of his role really well and adds an awful lot at scrum time, as well as offering a heavy presence as a mauler with his lift transition, his pressure as a jumper, his power as a driver and as a ripper +1 all looking very advanced for his age.

When it comes to the tight side of the game, Gleeson gets it. He’s quite similar to Gavin Coombes at the same age but with one key change. If Coombes was a back-row with lock sensibilities, Gleeson would be a lock with back-row sensibilities.

It’s why I’d classify his role as a Heavy Half Lock with role build similarities to Gavin Coombes, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Aldritt and Ultan Dillane.

Offensively, he’s got the power and explosivity to be a nightmare on the peel off a lineout, for example.

He’s got decent hands but I think, initially anyway, he’d fit in a heavy support role that ups his offensive breakdown involvements. This, along with his lineout output, is probably Gleeson’s most lock-like quality but he increases his value even more with a wide coverage range and excellent agility.

Essentially, he doesn’t just have to be lined up in a tight pod off #9 to make the ruck, he can cover all the slots – off #9, off #10, edge spaces. You name a ruck and Gleeson can hit it and win it.

The same is true of him defensively, where he is a high-output tackler with the capacity for defensive breakdown involvement. Gleeson is usually found defending within the first two or three defenders off the ruck on the openside of the play where he’ll only become more impactful with time and physical development.

That’s the only real work-on he has, for me. He’ll have to keep building his skillset, obviously, like all players but the biggest thing for Gleeson is to put on the size to supercharge him as a back-five option. I think anywhere between 110/115kg is optimal for him and I could easily see him adding at least another 3/4kg in the next season alone. He’s already at the stage where, physically, I think he’d be able for early season URC involvement and his role set is such that you could easily pair him with Hodnett/Kendellen as part of what would, essentially, be a three-lock pack.

His biggest plus is his ability to balance out any back five with his size and role strengths. If he can add on the heft he needs, I can see him being Cat A matchday ready within two seasons.

Brian Gleeson has the highest potential of any half-lock build player I’ve seen in Ireland in years and, with the right guidance, he’ll play for Ireland before he’s 23.