PRO12 LEAGUE:EOIN GRIFFIN watched the sequence unfold in slow motion, certainly in his mind's eye, looking back with a rising sense of helplessness as Gloucester replacement Johnnie May ripped victory from Connacht's grasp at Kingsholm with a try in the final throes of the Heineken Cup match.
The 21-year-old Connacht centre remembers trying to console replacement hooker Adrian Flavin, to nudge him back towards the posts as the latter stood rooted in despair 30 metres from the visitors’ try line. He recalls the final whistle, feeling numb and the weariness that ensued. It wasn’t the first time the Irish province was pick-pocketed this season but it was arguably the most gut-wrenching.
Griffin recalled: “I saw him (May) going on the switch and I wasn’t too bothered because we had numbers inside. Then suddenly he was in space and running for the line.
“After the final whistle I was on autopilot, shaking hands. Flav (Adrian Flavin) really took it tough. He didn’t move from the dressingroom for half an hour after the match. We had other chances to win before that so it wasn’t about that one moment. He has been, along with Ethienne (Reynecke), one of our most consistent players this season so it couldn’t have happened more inappropriately.
“Mul (Johnny Muldoon) said a few words, so did Gav (Duffy). It was hard to take because I was expecting us to win based on our performance during the match.”
It was a reasonable assertion. Connacht deserved a victory and Griffin was an integral part of a brilliant team display, a fact borne out by statistics: he carried the ball eight times, beat two defenders, made a whopping 18 tackles and kicked twice. His display was all the more laudable because he’s only just returning from hamstring problems that permitted just two training sessions in the last month. Given the cloying Kingsholm surface the fact he played right through to the end is a testament to his dedicated rehabilitation and the work of the medical team.
He smiled: “After 20 minutes I could barely breathe. I remember ushering Kyle (Tonetti) into the centre at one point to try and snatch a breather. My brother said he’d never seen someone look so tired. I eventually got my second wind.”
Griffin’s pedigree has been easily discernible from his underage international days and he has formed an impressive midfield partnership at Connacht with another professional game tyro, Dave McSharry. In recent times they have measured themselves against Toulouse and French internationals Yannick Jauzion and Florian Fritz and in the Gloucester matches, the England/Samoan axis of Mike Tindall and Eliota Fuiaono-Sapolu.
“Before the Toulouse match I remember watching five or six DVDs because there could have been several permutations of centre partnerships. You make assumptions of what it will be like but nothing prepares you for that step up. It was extremely physical. I found out quite quickly because one of their secondrows creamed me in the back when I was getting up from a ruck.
“I was talking with Dave (McSharry) after and we both agreed we loved it. I missed the next few games with my hamstrings before returning for the Kingsholm match. The results from those matches were very difficult but then so were our performances. On a personal level you absorb so much from the way tour opponents play, picking up on what they do well and you need to introduce to your game.”
While most people look forward to imbibing the Christmas spirit in a variety of ways this weekend, Griffin prepares for two matches that could pass for quasi trials in an Irish context as Connacht first travel to Munster and then host Leinster.
Ireland coach Declan Kidney was fortunate to have one of the world’s best centre partnerships in Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll, but with the latter injured he must look elsewhere and there are a host of excellent young prospects, several of whom will find themselves in opposition: Fergus McFadden, Darren Cave, Eoin O’Malley, Griffin, to say nothing of senior internationals Luke Fitzgerald, Keith Earls and Tommy Bowe who could all fill the number 13 jersey.
Griffin admitted: “As a player you look forward to the derby games and the opportunity of having a crack off whoever is there against you, that’s certainly the way Dave (McSharry) and I look at it. In some respects they are the be all and end all depending where you are in your career; there’s more meat to them for some players. Every player sets goals at the start of the season. There are things I can control and there are perceptions I can’t. My focus like most players looking to improve is on the pitch and helping my team. It’s for others to decide how that rates.”
It is a mature view and the next 10 days will offer two significant staging posts in his fledgling career.
