Following a break after the Six Nations, Jamison Gibson-Park is getting back into it this week.
With all the Leinster players returned from South Africa and the international players rested following Ireland’s last match against Italy in Rome, it could be said that the Gibson-Park household is also redrawing its sporting map.
As he prepares for the arrival of Harlequins for Leinster’s round of 16 knock-out match in Croke Park on Saturday, there is a fair chance his wife Patti will also be hitting the gym as she continues to rekindle her judo career.
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Now with more time on her hands as their three young children Iris, Isabella and Jai are a little older, the former New Zealand international judo player has been knocking herself back into shape to spend more time in the Dojo and take a serious look at being competitive again.
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“She represented New Zealand, she has done a bit of stuff at international level,” says Gibson-Park. “She’s kind of getting back into it.
“The kids are kind of at the age where she feels like she’s got a bit of time back. They’re over the baby age and they’re all into school and creche and so she has a bit of time to get after something herself.
“She did end up qualifying for the Commonwealth Games, but she didn’t end up going. There was just a bit going on personally. It’s another kind of reason she feels like it could be an itch to scratch. So, she’s pretty keen to give it another crack.”
Competing under her pre-marriage name of Patti Grogan, the then 25-year-old was set to compete for New Zealand in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but ended up not competing following a spell with the team in its final Games preparations in the Netherlands.
Grogan was the Oceania champion and ranked second in the Commonwealth. Glasgow would have been her first Commonwealth Games had she gone on to contest the 52kg weight division.
At the time Gibson-Park was playing Super Rugby with the Blues and was having a slow start to the 2014 season due to a stress fracture. He did not arrive in Leinster until 2016, making his debut for Ireland in 2020 and became an Irish citizen in December 2023.
“There’s a 10-year period of pretty much being a full-time mum so she’s looking to get into something herself,” he says. “She’s a little bit older, on the older side compared to the opposition, but she’s going to give it a crack over the next couple of years and see how she gets on.”
That could include a push for recognition at national level in Ireland.
“I think so, yeah. She’s going to see how she gets on.”
In a bid to improve England’s performances in the lead up to the Japan World Cup in 2019, England coach Eddie Jones and his assistants - including current England coach Steve Borthwick - spent time at the British Judo Centre of Excellence with members of the performance team.
They had identified defensive issues during a tour to Australia and wanted to see how they could utilise judo techniques and improve their defence in advance of that year’s Autumn Internationals, which included a Test match against South Africa. Georgian rugby players also use judo techniques, believing it can be beneficial for tackling, body control, and balance.
But there have been no breakfast table discussions or pointers to the scrumhalf about improving technique. Or has there?
“No, she hasn’t to be honest,” he says. “Like, Rugby League teams use a lot of it and that kind of thing but no, she hasn’t given me any pointers. She understands pretty well having been at the elite level before. It’s good. She knows what I’m going through and can pick up on the cues pretty well, so it’s been great.”
Gibson-Park does his fair share of tackling on the rugby pitch and will be called to action against Harlequins as Leinster seek to put the Premiership side under pressure both sides of the ball, knowing an aspect of rugby in England this season has been some high-scoring matches.
Bristol Director of Rugby, Pat Lam, told the BBC this week that attacking styles have been attracting bigger crowds. Last week in round 13 of the Premiership competition the scores fell 27-47, 17-15, 47-28, 53-28 and 22-29.
Records could also be broken. Former England winger, Chris Ashton holds the Premiership try scoring record with a remarkable 101 tries over spells with six different English clubs. But there are two active players chasing that number down Gloucester wing Christian Wade, currently on 89 tries and Harlequins scrumhalf Danny Care on 85.
“A lot of the English teams are playing a similar brand these days and I don’t know if you’re watching a lot of the Super Rugby at the moment as well but it’s crazy with so many points being scored,” says Gibson-Park.
“We would obviously like to think that we can stop a few more but we will see what team they put out at the weekend and it’s not going to be easy.”
He’ll stick with the rugby, he says, leave Patti with the judo and see what might blossom from her reignited passion. There is an Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028 he is reminded.
He smiles. “Exactly yeah, we’ll see how she gets on.”
