John Hayes's amazingly consistent record of service for both Ireland and Munster makes him a convincing candidate for the Player of the Year award, writes Gerry Thornley
PLAYER OF the Year in Ireland? There's a compelling argument for making it John Hayes. For the "Bull", read bulwark: "a defensive wall, especially of earth; a rampart". He's arguably been playing the best rugby of his life these past couple of years and while not the most celebrated Irish player of all time - in almost 250 first-class games he has never won a man of the match award - where Munster and Ireland might be without him doesn't really bear thinking about.
He may not be the world's most destructive tight-head, and Clermont's scrum had Munster in trouble recently, especially in the first, away leg of those momentous back-to-back matches. But the uncomfortable days have become much fewer and far between, his lifting and mastery of systems and calls has made him a bedrock of both his province's and Ireland's line-out in the last decade and he has always been an aptly named defensive pillar around the fringes. Anyone who runs into the Bull thereabout usually still goes backwards.
Having been an ever present for Ireland last season, in 2008 Hayes put in his normal shift for his country, starting all but the Canadian game of Ireland's 10 tests.
A famously late developer, who rather infamously began his career at the age of 18 as a flanker in a 0-0 draw for Bruff against Newcastlewest, out of little acorns and all that . . . One can still recall him being plucked from club rugby with Shannon by Warren Gatland for the 1998 tour to South Africa, when he was brought on as a sub in three games before starting the final midweek game against North West Districts.
Big and raw hardly tells it.
Since being one of five debutants in the revitalising 44-22 win over Scotland in the 2000 Six Nations, Hayes has played a phenomenal 89 of Ireland's last 100 tests. He was rested away to the USA Eagles later that summer, and missed the Australia, Tonga and Samoa tour of '03 as well as the World Cup warm-up games against Wales, Italy and Scotland that year through injury. The only games Hayes has been rested for since then were the summer tours to Japan (when on Lions duty) in '05 and Argentina in '07.
It is a further indication of how indispensable he has been that Hayes has started 85 of his 89 tests, the only exceptions being Romania (twice), Scotland in last year's World Cup warm-up game and Canada last November. The emergence of Tony Buckley in recent years has alleviated his load a little though, amazingly, Hayes has only been granted an early shower in 25 of those 85 test starts.
His durability is best exemplified in his Six Nations record, in which the Bull has started Ireland's last 44 games in a row. Hayes is third on the list of players with most appearances in the Six Nations, just behind Fabien Pelous on 46 and Jason Leonard, England on 45, and hence is therefore poised to become the most capped player ever in the history of the championship.
For Munster, he has been just as indispensable, playing 154 games for the province since his debut in a 27-22 Celtic League win against the Edinburgh Reivers at Musgrave Park in September 1998.
He started his first Heineken Cup game against Padova at the same venue the following month, and has played in 83 of Munster's last 85 games in that competition; starting all but once. Since the knock-out stages of the '01-'02 campaign, Hayes has started their last 55 Cup games in a row.
All of this is a remarkable tribute to his longevity and reliability, and it is an indication of the so-called "golden generation's" durability and consistency that Hayes has so much Irish company on various 'all-time' lists. Ronan O'Gara is the second highest points accumulator (413) in the championship behind Jonny Wilkinson (479), with David Humphreys sixth on 237 points, and, of course, the highest in the history of the Heineken Cup with a scarcely credible 1,001 points.
(Here again, Humphreys is fourth on 564 points and "our own" Felipe Contepomi is eighth on 388 points).
Brian O'Driscoll is the leading try scorer in the Championship with 17, and Denis Hickie is sixth on 13, while O'Driscoll and Horgan are the joint third highest try scorers in the history of the Heineken Cup on 24 tries, with Anthony Foley on 23.
In the Heineken Cup, seven of the 10 players to have made the most appearances are Munster players - Anthony Foley, Hayes, O'Gara, Peter Stringer, John Kelly, David Wallace and Marcus Horan.
At the end of last season, Foley, Humphreys and Keith Gleeson all followed Reggie Corrigan, Shane Byrne, Emmet Byrne, Denis Hickie and others into retirement. Ireland still have a core of very experienced players, five of whom have won over 80 caps, with another six who have over half a century of caps, but all bar Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan and O'Driscoll are in their 30s, and that's not including Alan Quinlan.
Declan Kidney is fond of saying there's plenty of doom and gloom about, and in perhaps a barometer of our times it's clear the so-called golden generation is coming to an end. The thought was most strikingly brought to mind as Munster clung on against Clermont, and with it perhaps a generation was hanging on by a thread.
While a consoling thought was that Clermont are probably better than France, there is no better barometer of Irish rugby's health than Munster's continuing presence in the Heineken Cup knock-out stages beyond the Six Nations for the last 10 seasons in a row. Their game at home to Sale in a few weeks is as important as any in 2009.
Hayes, at 35, has another one-year deal with the IRFU and good luck to him.
Clearly he is no rush to become a full-time farmer and neither the IRFU nor Munster are in a rush to send him off to fresh pastures. The 32-year-old Wallace, as the player of the season so far, utterly deserves his recent one -year deal too.
But how long more can the last of this generation hang on?
Opportunities for the Munster men to obtain another Heineken Cup, for O'Driscoll and co to finally nail one for Leinster, and for them all to achieve a landmark in the Six Nations, are running out.
gthornley@irishtimes.com
