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Munster's list of Non-Irish Eligible centres is a source of great pride for the province. There is no matching equivalent anywhere in the world, no list stretching back 21 years - or more - of importing such excellence. Sure, Ireland has been good at exporting Kerrygold, Guinness, soccer players, golfers or, latterly, Aussie Rules players, but the equivalent coming the other way has to be Munster's southern hemisphere centres. There have been All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies and not everyone has been capped but it is a dozen who have got down and dirty, fed into the system in remarkable fashion. Keith Earls was Munster's Jack-of-Every-Trade during his time with St Nessan's, Thomond, St Munchins, Munster, Ireland, and the Lions. He has variously played full-back, both wings, both centre spots, out-half and flanker across those sides. It is easy to see his versatility as he has, most likely. occupied a record number of starting slots—five—at both Munster and Ireland. Yet the addendum here is that Earls' best position was most likely as a centre, specifically no13, yet his time overlapped with Brian O'Driscoll's at Ireland and all from this list but Alex Nankivell at Munster. What's that curse 'May be born in interesting times'? Earls' very versatility was a boon to both Ireland and Munster but in another era things would have been very different. MUNSTER's SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE: - Trevor Halsted (2005-07) - Lifeimi Mafi (2006-12) - Rua Tipoki (2007-09) - Jean de Villiers (2009-10) - Sam Tuitupou (2010-11) - Casey Lualua (2012-14) - Pat Howard (three months 2014-15) - Francis Saili (2015-17) - Jaco Taute (2016-19) - Damian de Allende (2020-22) - Malaki Fekitoa (2022-23) - Alex Nankivell (2023-) First up there was South African Trevor Halsted, the 2006 Heineken Cup winning no12, who was mentoring Earls regular training sessions with Munster while a 6th year at St Munchins (yes,'on the 'hop'!). "He was a gent," Earls remembers of his early days, "very respectful and very professional about his rugby and then I signed that summer, and obviously, Lifeimi Mafi was there. "Mafi for me is the pound for pound the best of the all the centres we brought in from the southern hemisphere over the years. "His skills were second to none. He was like an out-half in stature, he wasn't massive, maybe between 86/88 kgs—but look at the way he carried and tackled. "God, I remember that Sebastien Chabal hit that time. "People don't think it, but he was seriously light but, my God, he could hit a brick wall for you no problem. "His communication, just everything about him was off the charts and he was great to me when I first came through. Rua Tipoki, who partnered Mafi in the centre in the 2008 Heineken Cup win, was an incredible leader too. "I played no12 against him for Ireland at the Churchill Cup where he was captaining the Maoris - that's how well respected he was back home. "He came through to us when I was breaking through, in 2008 so I ended up playing no15. "He was in the centre with Lifeimi and I had Dougie Howlett and Ian Dowling on the other side of me so I was well minded!" Munster signed RWC2007 winner Jean de Villiers for a year, a World Cup winner at Thomond Park! Moreover, he was a player who would later captain the 'Boks upon returning home. "He was huge, a unit, a strong, tall fellah, a good off-loader, a good communicator and he brought a simpler game, making it simpler for us. "He was a leader and he threw himself about and he carried himself well.he was a great lad and he, obviously, loved the collision as well - hence why he was always bloody injured! "Rua was around as well but if it was Mafi and Jean de Villiers in the centre I'd be at full-back and I used to attack from the centre and defend at the wing. "These were all Tony McGahan's coaching ideas; he used to create all these little things." There were further imports in Sam 'Hackshaw' Tuitupou who had nine All Blacks caps, Casey Lualua with three All Blacks caps, Pat Howard and Francis Saili (2015-17) who had two all Black caps. "Sam was very tough, Casey was a star in the 2014 Heinken Cup quarter-final win over Toulouse at Thomond Park and was on the URC Dream XV that year. "Pat Howard had an excellent three month loan and Francis Saili came back well after picking up a major injury just after he arrived." Jaco Taute originally arrived as a four-month contract replacement when Saili picked up that major injury but was kept on much longer. Says Earls: "I remember I first came across Jaco Taute when I was with Ireland playing against South Africa in November 2012, some time around his first cap. "I was playing at centre against him and tried to tackle him early on and I hit him and I was like, "Oh my God, this is a new breed!"'. "He was rock solid, but look, another guy who had to play with injuries because of the way he played, he threw his body around. "He was a great teammate, even when he wasn't playing, he was involved, he didn't stint in his commitment to the Munster squad." There is also the iconic moment in the post Anthony Foley game when the Glasgow player who had been involved in the collision with Earls and was rolling around the pitch in agony. And then simply hopped up and jogged back to his team mates once he saw the red card had been brandished, Before order had been restored Taute was almost 70 metres away walked down the pitch to eyeball the Scot, jabbed an accusing finger at him, added lots of threatening verbals and got his message across. The Glasgow player barely went near the ball afterwards and was subbed very, very early. "I was aware afterwards of that march down the field because we laughed about it later when the dust had settled down. "He gave it all, I think towards the end, he didn't even want to leave but look, that's what bloody Munster does to some of these fellahs. "Like they get engulfed in the culture and they care about it more than they thought they were going to care about it." Malakai Fekitoa came as a 24-times capped All Black. "I played with him at the end of my time, he was another great lad, he was an unbelievable trainer, trained hard. He was impossible to tackle in training, the size of his legs. "He was big and he ended up playing no12 a few times as well although it took him a while to get settled. I think when he figured it out and he got what we were about he was top class. "Again another fella who we probably shouldn't have left go because we were just getting the best of him." Current incumbent Alex Nankivell is a firm fan favourite. "Another fellah who throws himself about, who gives everything to the jersey - I feel like I've played with him because I know him that well, I'd see him about and I'd have good chats with him. "He comes from down at Chiefs and they are a good humble club as well, a working class club and, look, what you see on the pitch is what you get with Nankivell, he'll give it everything. "From what I hear from the lads, he's an unbelievable communicator which, for me, is an unbelievable skill to have, it can make the game easier." Consider this so: Keith Earls was a professional rugby player at Munster and for Ireland from 2007-2023. Munster's signing policy, and the very existence of Ireland's greatest Brian O'Driscoll and Earls' own versatility meant he played 87 percent of his rugby at either full-back or wing. A player who broke through as a superstar schoolboys no13 only made 21 starts in the centre; had Earls been about in any other era, the story would have been different. Even now, it's an incredible 'What If?'. "I was at no13 in school, wanted to play at no13 and it's easy in hindsight now and I could answer the questions in 'I didn't care' but back then I did care'.,,, "Obviously, and look, I got to play in the centre with Drico, he moved into no12 a couple of times and he was injured quite a bit, so I had to play in the centre but again, I wish I just gave it more time, I wish I put more work into it when I was playing in the centre. "With hindsight and experience, I suppose I didn't give myself the best chance when I did get to play in the centre for whatever reasons, confidence-wise, and all that kind of stuff."