RUGBY:AFTER SEVEN months rehabbing from consecutive knee and shoulder operations, all Kevin McLaughlin wanted to do last Saturday was make it to half-time against Connacht.
Just get 40 minutes under the belt to show Joe Schmidt he is a rugby player and not just some friendly face around Riverview. We presume Schmidt was impressed with the 80-minute return.
When the pain subsides, today or tomorrow, McLaughlin can start thinking again about the backrow pecking order at Leinster.
Since the 26-year-old flanker ruptured knee ligaments in the Magners League grand final against the Ospreys last May, as his joint got caught between Stanley Wright and Lee Byrne, academy duo Rhys Ruddock and Dominic Ryan have made dramatic strides. Ruddock equalled McLaughlin for international caps (one) in Australia last summer, while Ryan, a fellow Gonzaga College graduate, has carved out a reputation as a big-hitting Heineken Cup impact sub.
And then there is Seán O’Brien – the in form backrower in Ireland right now.
All McLaughlin had to do was prove to his new coach that both shoulders and knees were able to withstand 40 minutes of collisions. Even when O’Brien didn’t return after being stitched up midway through the first half, McLaughlin only had to make it back to the dressingroom at the break, when Nathan Hines could be switched to blindside. Then he would have time to ease back into a professional career that only came to life when Rocky Elsom went home after the epic 2009 campaign.
The story is well told by now. An injury-prone academy prospect, who was contemplating a switch to private banking, somehow convinced Michael Cheika to give him one last chance to show he could make the necessary impact alongside resident Leinster backrowers Shane Jennings and Jamie Heaslip.
When given a run of games he played well enough to convince Declan Kidney to reward him with a first Test start against Italy in the Six Nations.
Last Saturday, after finally making it to the interval, McLaughlin looked across the room to see Hines nursing a shoulder and quickly realised he would have to keep going.
“I think his enthusiasm rubs off on the other guys,” said forwards coach Jonno Gibbs yesterday. “Certainly, he soldiered on for us through the full 80 when the plan was not for him to go that long. He has a big engine so it worked out well.”
Pitch-side at training in UCD yesterday, McLaughlin cut a happy, if stiff, figure: “Ah, it’s great to be back and great to get back into it and remember how to play rugby again.
“Both shoulders were a bit sore in the first half, but I warmed in to it then. Because of the snow, I hadn’t done a contact session this season. I’d done a few pad sessions indoor, so there was a bit of getting used to that.”
Now that he remembers how to play again, after surviving the mental torture of double rehab, he must hone his sights on Stephen Keogh, Ruddock and Ryan before even thinking about the likes of O’Brien or Jennings. There is an opening on the Leinster bench and all four men know it.
The only real winner here is the club.
“They’ve been very impressive,” said McLaughlin of the next wave, “but that’s what happens in a good club; when someone gets injured someone else steps up and it’s been good to see the young lads coming through, and it’s extremely competitive there now.
“That’s what you want in a squad: you want guys like me coming back in fresh and providing a new threat to the lads who have the jersey at the moment. It’s very healthy for the club.”
In many ways he is starting from scratch. Again.
“There are two young lads coming through playing very well, Seánie is playing the rugby of his life, Jenno is playing well, Jamie is there. It does feel a bit like there is a bit of a mountain.
“It’s kind of exciting on the other hand, because the team is playing so well and there is everything to play for, and for me to get my form to a level that is better than before to get my place back.
“Competition always brings out the best in guys, and it will bring out the best in me as well.”
