'I'm loving it out there' - New role suiting Munster's Tom Ahern

You'd pray for a winger that finds themselves in a one-on-one with Munster Tom Ahern out on the wing.

The Munster website lists the Waterford man as 6ft 9in and just over 18 stone, and he can move like a man half the size.

With such a big frame, the second row had been his assumed home since he came through the Ireland U20 setup and into the Munster senior squad in recent years, until Graham Rowntree had a eurkea moment back in November, moving the 23-year-old back to blindside flanker in a switch that's proven to be an instant hit.

It was a move that nobody saw coming, even though it was hiding in plain sight. He'd last played there at U18 level for his home club Waterpark, but was soon pushed up to lock. He'd even been a full-back years earlier, and has the speed and ball skills that belie his size, while Munster's gameplan plays to that athletic ability.

Having already scored two tries this season playing as a second row, he's added four more to that tally since moving to the back row, three of which have seen him loiter on the wing before being found by Jack Crowley's crossfield kicks.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm loving it out there," he says, when asked how much he's enjoying his role in the Munster attack.

"Honestly, it's the lads in the middle - our two pods in the middle - if they don't give us front-foot ball, it makes it difficult for us on the edges. So thankfully the guys in the middle are giving me opportunities out wide."

Having Ahern (above) loiter on those wings is giving Munster a target to aim for out wide. As seen with his tries against Glasgow and Exeter and Toulon, when he gets the ball in his hands in the open field he's incredibly difficult to stop, six foot and nine inches of elbows and knees.

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