IT WAS A night for celebrating debuts, but also a couple of returns to red, as Munster ran in seven tries in a 45-5 win over London Irish in Cork.

Ex-Leinster scrum-half Nick McCarthy was among the six men to make their senior debut for the southern province, while James Cronin made his first appearance since November due to injury.

After stints with Pau and Connacht respectively, Paddy Butler and Peter McCabe also featured for their native province.

The 40-point gap was mostly down to a second-half surge after a raft of changes were made by both coaches.

160 seconds into his senior debut, Academy back-row forward Jack O'Sullivan produces this to score Munster's second try of the night! 🔥 🔥🔥#MUNvLIR pic.twitter.com/AxpkM97puH

— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) September 13, 2019

Centre Dan Goggin battled over for the only score of the first half, and Munster didn’t look back as a scorching run from Jack O’Sullivan and Mike Haley put the hosts comfortably ahead before Goggin grabbed a second off Shane Daly’s tip-on of a JJ Hanrahan cross-field kick.

FULL-TIME: Munster 45-5 London Irish

A great night's work at Irish Independent Park as we run in 7️⃣ tries, including this Dan Goggin effort!

8️⃣ Academy players played their part with 6️⃣ debuts on the night! #MUNvLIR #SUAF 🔴 pic.twitter.com/3vLSZ7c6dC

— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) September 13, 2019

Hanrahan crossed the whitewash himself before the second-half rout was completed by Diarmuid Barron and Liam Coombes.

With the warm-up games out of the way, Murray, Bernard and Gavan discuss the renewed cause for optimism, impressive individual player form, and a potential quarter-final versus either South Africa or New Zealand.

The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud