Munster's fans have taken quite a shine to Antoine Frisch since his arrival in the summer.
The centre has hit the ground running - and offloading - in his first few games for the province, gaining rave reviews for his ability to bring some unpredictability to the Munster attack.
"Tony Fresh? He's silky smooth," said head coach Graham Rowntree recently of the former Bristol man, who's made the 13 jersey his own in recent weeks, keeping the more high-profile summer signing Malakai Fekitoa out of the team.
French-born and English-accented, the 26-year-old has plenty of Irish roots, and he'll be spending Christmas Day with them in Dublin. He might even bring a few back down the road to Thomond Park with him.
"I'll be with them on Christmas Day and the day before, so there's like 18 of us that will be in Tallaght," he says of his first Christmas in Ireland.
"That will be very nice, and I'm sure a few of them will come down to the game, 100%.
"I'm pretty sure they'll be supporting Munster. I think they're transitioning at the moment, so obviously they're from Dublin and when I arrived there was a bit of craic with that but yeah, they're supporting Munster now, I reckon."
His interesting career arc has already seen him play in the Massy and Rouen in the French ProD2, the English Premiership with Bristol Bears, and now in the URC for Munster, and he credits that melting-pot of clubs with the languid and creative style of rugby we've seen from him so far.
"I've seen different styles and it has helped me to have a better understanding of what a team needs and just playing in the right areas of the field.
"For example at Bristol there was a big emphasis on holding the ball and putting teams under pressure through your shape and your attack, and I improved massively from that point of view last year.
"So it definitely gives me a better knowledge of rugby and understanding what a team needs, I'm just using my ability to bring that to the team and it's good, it's definitely a plus in my game."
Given the timelines of his signing announcement in April, and the confirmation of Munster's coaching ticket, it's unclear how much say Graham Rowntree, Mike Prendergast or Denis Leamy had in him joining the club.
And while he walked into a chaotic pre-season with the coaching ticket trying to put their stamp on the team, his style has made him an idea fit for their attacking plans, which is allowing Munster's backline to express themselves more than the previous Johann van Graan regime.
"It was a fresh start for everyone from that point of view, everyone was starting from scratch, starting to learn the new calls, and getting to know the new coaches. It was good that everyone started from the same level, all the boys knew each other really well, so it was very easy as a new player co come in and train hard, work hard and improve at the same time as the squad.
"It's the same for everyone, every player has that licence to express themselves, within the system obviously but yeah, the coaches are big on that and the way they tell us it's you're at your best when you're not thinking too much and you're expressing yourself, and that's when you're at your best.
"It's the same for everyone. I heard the same things were said about Mike Haley and it's just really positive, they let you express yourself which is class as a player, to get that confidence from the coaches is obviously massive. It's good, very good," he adds.
It's very early days, but he's made his Test ambitions clear, and his inclusion on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa (above) shows he's on Andy Farrell's radar.
And as Munster head into two big Interpro games against Leinster and Ulster, he knows the Irish coaching team will place a lot of weight on performances in the next fortnight.
"It's huge. We know that we're watched every week, every player, and you're compared every week.
"I'm not shying away from the fact that I came here with ambitions to try play for Ireland, so yeah, it's huge. But you've got to focus on the team and the process and doing the job for the team.
"So it's really simple, just go out there and perform as best as you can and I think if you do that then the rest takes care of itself.
"It's in the back of your mind but you don't think about it too much at the moment. Looking forward to it anyways."
Listen to live commentary of Munster v Leinster (26 December, 7.35pm) and Connacht v Ulster (23 December, 7.35pm) on RTÉ Radio 1, or follow our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
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