The 21-year-old lock played 70 minutes at the Coventry Building Society Arena as Munster got off to a winning start in Pool B.

“It was surreal really, finding out earlier on in the week that you're playing. Trying to keep it quiet was a bit of a challenge,” he told the United Rugby Championship outfit’s website. “It's been unbelievable.

“You go out and you feel like your head's going to implode [with] the noise. It's kind of something you've always dreamed of as well. So, it's mixed emotions - you're so excited and you're so happy; then you're so emotional as well to go out.

“As soon as you go out, you're just focusing on the ball, watching everything - just trying to stay present and focused on the pitch.

“It's certainly a historic win. I don't know if it's been done before, [with] this many new lads coming in. We spoke about that all week, [about] what an opportunity it was going to be and I think that's been the key - it was an opportunity.

“It was always something that we were more than capable of doing. And I think that was the tone of the week. Everyone was just buzzing.”

Twelve players made their maiden appearances for Munster during the match, but their starting XV still featured the likes of experienced Ireland internationals Conor Murray, Peter O'Mahony and Tadhg Beirne, and O’Connor revealed how the senior players played a key role in putting the youngsters at ease.

“We tried to keep it simple because [there were] a lot of new lads, a lot of lads coming in who hadn't trained with us before,” O’Connor revealed.

“It was pretty easy because everyone was so excited. Even the seniors [were] absolutely buzzing the last two weeks and they've really, really been very helpful to all of us newer lads.”

Eoin O’Connor admitted he was “ecstatic” after making his Munster Rugby debut in the Irish province’s thrilling 35-14 win at Wasps in the Heineken Champions Cup on Sunday.