RUGBY: COACHING IN professional sport requires many attributes that extend beyond the physical parameters of preparing a team. One of those core characteristics relates to man management and for Joe Schmidt and Tony McGahan two conversations in particular over the last few days will have had an empathetic slant.

When Munster scrumhalf Tomás O’Leary and Leinster’s Luke Fitzgerald failed to make Ireland’s World Cup squad bound for New Zealand, they returned to their provinces where words of commiseration and consolation were no doubt plentiful as colleagues tried to assuage the disappointment.

It is not a surprise, given their respective natures, to learn that both players refused to sulk and instead insisted on playing in the weekend’s final pre-season friendlies. Speaking at the RaboDirect Pro 12 League launch in Dublin Munster coach McGahan – Brian McLaughlin (Ulster), Eric Elwood (Connacht) and Schmidt (Leinster) were among the coaches and players present – offered an insight into how O’Leary bore his disappointment.

“We’re disappointed for Tomás. We thought he was going (to New Zealand) for a long period of the campaign. I talked to him on Sunday night. He was at training but he didn’t train on Monday as his back was a bit sore. He’s a great professional, very determined to come back because you don’t know what’s going to happen.

“Things work out in funny ways. Tomás worked his way into the side at Peter’s (Stringer) expense and Conor (Murray) has got into the side at Tomás’ expense. That’s the way it works. He’ll come back and work really hard, no doubt.”

McGahan confirmed that providing O’Leary recovers from a slight back strain he will play against London Irish on Friday night at Thomond Park. “We would look to get him involved, need to get him involved as soon as possible. It would be remiss of us not to give him the opportunity to play this week if fit.”

The Munster coach pointed out that O’Leary’s disappointment was tempered by the news that the 22-year-old Patrickswell native Murray would be travelling to New Zealand. “It’s a great reflection on Conor and the way that he has played, trained and taken the opportunity. Everyone talks about getting an opportunity but the second thing with that is being able to take it.

“Conor has certainly proven that in his time with Munster. I think more than anything it’s Conor’s personal attributes that he brings, his calmness; (the fact) he’s not overawed and we saw that with his Test debut a few weeks ago.”

McGahan confirmed that John Hayes would be involved with Munster until his IRFU contract finishes in November and that the province was continuing to examine their options with regard to bringing in a centre; although there was nothing immediate in the pipeline.

Schmidt faced a similar scenario but was quick to praise Fitzgerald’s attitude when he joined his provincial team-mates for training on Monday morning. “Declan’s (Kidney) had a really tough job to do. It’s not just a one-performance 30 you are looking at. You want guys who can cover a number of positions.

“I particularly feel disappointed for Luke. I thought he came on and had a great little cameo at the weekend but that at the same time that’s the reality of rugby. Luke has been a great example of being a professional in the way that he turned up to training. He was immediately there with a spring in his step, passing on a little of his experience.

“He’s still only a kid in rugby terms, 24 years old – he’s already had some great success, Grand Slam winner, British and Irish Lion, Heineken Cup winner a couple of times; it’s not a bad list of experiences to build on. He’ll start on the wing on Friday night (against the Northampton Saints at Donnybrook). He was very keen to chat to me to make sure that I understood he was very keen to be selected and very keen to be involved straight away.

“He’s straight back on the horse and has a pair of big spurs he’s digging in there and charging straight ahead and you’ve got to have respect for that.

“It’s no different for Shane Jennings and Kevin McLaughlin. I know they had an inkling prior, whereas I know it was right down to the wire for Luke.”

The priority for Schmidt is to ensure that the player rediscovers a rhythm that also helps him to best express his prodigious talent. “There were a couple of things we definitely worked on with Luke at the end of last season when things didn’t quite happen naturally.

“Physically he felt fine but things just weren’t quite happening for him and he almost started trying too hard to make things happen. For Luke I think it’s just about keeping things nice and clear in his head. He has a couple of things to work on and hopefully we see the evidence of that in the earlier Pro 12 games.”