ON RUGBY:In school we would train twice a day, four or five days a week, not including Wednesday and Saturday matches, writes BOB CASEY
SOMEONE MENTIONED a statistic that over two thirds of the Irish-born players on the current Leinster senior squad went to rugby-playing schools, a statement that directed me down memory lane. I’m still on the fragrant side of 30 so my recollections are pretty sharp but I don’t look back for the purposes of rose-tinted nostalgia but rather to offer my thoughts on what schools rugby has given the sport in this country.
The term schools rugby tends to polarise opinion with many outside the rugby-playing schools viewing it as a privileged caste. I’m not going to generalise as I’d prefer to speak specifically on my experiences but I suspect mine would be shared by many others.
My exposure to the sport began in North Kildare rugby club and I was 15 before I swapped my local school for Blackrock College. I did have an inkling with regard to the world of schools rugby having gone to a Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup final and being struck by the colour, pageantry and the fact that a crowd of in excess of 20,000 people turned up to watch.
It took me a while to get my head around the school environment in Blackrock but it’s fair to say that there’s probably no way I would have gone on to do the things I have managed if I had not gone to Blackrock: I am not just referring to rugby.
The regimen at the school demanded discipline, commitment and a willingness to put the team dynamic before any personal interests. Obviously I went on to become a professional rugby player but I still apply and will do so when my career finishes those values to other aspects of life. That discipline taught me how to set goals and stick to a path to achieve them. It educated me on the value of hard work and perseverance.
In school we would train twice a day, four or five days a week not including matches on the Wednesday and Saturday. We’d have recovery shakes after training amongst other trappings of a quasi-professional life. It was a huge commitment physically and emotionally. I look back now and can better appreciate the tools that we were given to cope with those demands.
We learned how to function under pressure, to develop and execute a skill set, to learn systems of play that championed the team ethic and I suppose the benefits of a winning mentality. Schools rugby stirred an ambition in me; it illustrated how ambition had to be matched by an unrelenting focus to achieve goals. It also taught me the importance of friendships, many of which forged on the playing pitches of the schools game – not just in Blackrock – have endured to this day.
I was also hugely fortunate to play on a Blackrock and subsequently Leinster and Ireland schools teams that were very successful. There was so much quality in our team at school, illustrated by name checking Peter Smyth, Leo Cullen, Barry Gibney, Ciarán Scally Tom Keating and David Quinlan. It wasn’t about ability alone because that might not have sufficed. Schools rugby definitely opened doors but it also drove me to be the best player I could be. It shaped my attitude to life and gave me values and a practical insight into what can be achieved with hard work.
Much is made of the inter-school rivalry but away from the pitch it was a different dynamic, especially by the time I went to UCD. Enduring friendships were forged with lads from Terenure, Clongowes, Belvedere and St Michael’s amongst others: playing together for Leinster and Ireland would have solidified those bonds.
In speaking with people back home I appreciate that the tentacles of professionalism have crept down to the schools game but I’d hate to think that the sterility of a win-at-all-costs philosophy would permeate the schools game. That would be a retrograde step and counter-productive in producing players with a skill set required to flourish at higher levels.
I attended the Matt Hampson Fundraising Ball – he was an England Under-21 international who was paralysed from the neck down when a scrum collapsed at a training session – and it was great to see the level of support it received. Matt played with Leicester and the club offered great support in every respect and it wasn’t a surprise to see so many of their number there, including England coach Martin Johnson and Graham Rowntree.
To entertain the masses Geordan Murphy and I took on England hooker Dylan Hartley and centre Riki Flutey in a place-kicking competition, complete with inflatable posts. It wasn’t quite that straightforward as we were obliged prior to taking the kicks to put your forehead on the handle of a brush and spin around several times very quickly. It ended in a stalemate as no one managed a successful attempt much to the amusement of our audience.
Last Sunday week President McAleese attended the London Irish game and was presented to the teams. The following day Shauna and I got to meet the President again at a reception hosted in the Irish embassy in London by ambassador, Bobby McDonagh and his wife, Mary. The President is a lovely lady with a great sense of humour. It was an opportunity for me to meet so many successful Irish people based in the UK, like Orla Kiely who has made a huge splash in fashion: handbags I’m reliably informed. I also caught up with Barry McGuigan, of whom I am a huge fan, and someone I know well as he is a confirmed London Irish supporter.
Beating Harlequins the previous day finally kick-started 2010 for us at the club but that impetus received a setback with our defeat to the Leicester Tigers on Saturday. There’s a three-week period now where there are no games and the focus will be on ensuring we get the results that will propel us towards some silverware at the business end of the season.
