Charlie O’Shea is a very interesting player.

You could tell that at CBC in the Munster Senior Cup. You could tell by watching him play for UCC. And, in the last few months, the same has been true for the Irish U20s. You’ll get no argument from me that Tom Wood has had the better season overall — playing URC-level rugby away to Glasgow, even while doing well, is serious going for an U20 player — but that shouldn’t really diminish the impact of Charlie O’Shea.

Sometimes people look at two players coming through simultaneously in broadly the same role and decide early who’s going to be the guy, and who isn’t, but that really shouldn’t apply to these two.

O’Shea is every bit the prospect that Wood is.

When I asked about O’Shea internally, he was spoken about in the same breath as Wood when it came to high-potential AAA-rated prospects, so it’s not really the case that it’ll be one or the other — Munster see both as being a core part of what this province will look like in the next five or six years, at least.

At approximately 5’10” and 80kg, O’Shea is on the smaller side — compared to Wood and Crowley — but he makes up for that with blistering pace and agility that, genuinely, a lot of wingers could do with adding to their game.

His pace, agility and evasion are the best in the 20s squad this season, by a mile. Look at this here, and tell me that’s not something you might see from a Kurt Lee Arendse, or someone of that build.

The speed of the reaction, the acceleration, the low centre of gravity, the foot speed as he changes direction and then the gas to create separation.

Not only that, he’s got a proper strong fend on him post-contact too, and he’s constantly looking to offload. Look at the hold, acceleration and punch through the gap here.

As I was going through his clips, I got to thinking about who he reminds me of. A player comp. I do it with everyone. Someone for you to put in your mind’s eye as a guideline for how to view the player’s abilities. It doesn’t mean they’ll become as good as that player, but it’s a good place to start when you consider how they might end up being used.

When I look at Charlie O’Shea, one player keeps coming to mind: Damien McKenzie.

Think about it. The step. The acceleration. The evasion.

The creativity with the boot, extended by that same agility and pace.

Teams stand off him because he establishes early that he can and will run if you drift on him, and that he has the gas to torch you into cinders when he gets that gap.

Look at the pace, evasion and killer instinct in contact here, the last one before the offload against a guy he’s giving up 20+ kgs to.

Most of O’Shea’s best work is done in conjunction with his pace and agility. His reset speed behind the ruck is incredible, meaning he can have a carrying involvement and then be back in position for the phase right after. Not just at first receiver either — he’s got the speed to get out on the loop away from the first pass and be right where he needs to be.

Off the set piece, his pace on the secondary loop behind the carry and screen action is genuinely outstanding, and he was a few passes away from adding to the six tries he scored in this year’s 20s World Championship. Look at how close he runs these lines and how much separation he gets outside the last defender from a start at first receiver.

If he gets either of these two passes, he’s got at least a linebreak, most likely a try, or a try assist.

Look at what happens when he gets the pass here.

BANG. He’s gone.

On the negative side, his pass can be a little lofty off his left side, and he does tend to “chuck” certain passes at range. I also wonder about his option taking at #10 in tight games, although that will grow with experience.

Defensively, he’s a brave and willing tackler, despite the size differential he gives up to guys off the lineout and scrum. He gets low, he goes in hard, and he puts his entire body through it. I’ve no real worries there.

But I ask myself, if the very best stuff he does is based on speed, evasion and cutting players up on the drift, might O’Shea be a viable option long-term at fullback? Not as a Mike Haley-type fullback, a hitter, a crash ball option, a lockdown defender or high ball chaser, obviously, but as a second #10 in the vein of Ramos, Mallía or McKenzie? I think he’s absolutely got everything you’d want there. More than comfortable looping in at first receiver, a goal kicker, and with the kind of killer pace that normally locks out most #10s from ever really being viable options there in the long term.

Defensively, that pace and physicality would mean he’s doing more stuff like this — covering holes, filling gaps, and getting stuck into players in space, rather than exposing him to heavy hitters straight on.

Sure, someone will point out that, at 5’10”, he might be vulnerable to being targeted in the air but that mostly applies to wingers when it comes to those one on one contestables these days, and if you ask me whether he can deal with long bombs down field where he’s got a chaser on him, but not in his face, I’d say he’s absolutely capable of that.

He’s a decent kicker of the ball too, with good close control and variety, but he can bang it from range, also. Is this something that could be unlocked as a second #10?

The more I look at it, the more closely he fits that strike playmaker role. He’s a creative passer and kicker, albeit somewhat inconsistent at longer range, but with that pace and agility, he could be a player that becomes undefendable as a wider playmaker, who can also easily fit in at first receiver when needed.

As a #10, I think O’Shea will find it difficult to displace Wood and Crowley in the short to medium term. As a playmaking fullback — a second #10 — I think he’s got all the tools now, or soon will, to jump up to senior rugby far quicker, with the likes of Will Harrison there to show him the ropes on how to manage that transition.

As a fullback/second #10, I think O’Shea is perfectly suited to the modern transitional game, because he’s got all the traits right now at 19 to lean into them. Give him space, and he’ll kill you. He can beat you on the outside or step back inside and offload. It’s not completely out of the question that he might be capable of making a full professional debut inside the next two seasons, and immediately break out from that point because he’s got all the tools that would allow him to provide real impact.

Give him open field to run, and he’s got the broad skillset to ignite any attacking system with all the things that made him so effective at #10 for Ireland in this year’s World Championship.