Rugby

Ireland’s Cormac Izuchukwu eyes opening Test against South Africa

Progressive Ulster forward playing as a flanker under coach Richie Murphy and has excelled in that position

The emerging Cormac Izuchukwu: 'I was supposed to be in Mexico right now.' Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

Johnny Watterson
Sun Jun 30 2024 - 06:00

Cormac Izuchukwu, aka “Izzy”, is sitting in a room in Ireland’s High Performance Centre. He wasn’t expecting to be here right now. But Izzy has finally caught the attention of Andy Farrell’s radar and is going to South Africa. It has required a shift in position and some eye-catching performances with Ulster. Still, it has taken the backrow by surprise how quietly his selection for the summer tour to South Africa has crept up.

“Tequila,” he says, explaining the end-of-season holiday in Mexico with his friends that is no longer part of his schedule. He should be plunging into some clear water with the sun on his back, yet here he is on a dull day illuminating the room because he didn’t think this change of fortune was stitched into his end-of-season run.

“I was supposed to be in Mexico right now. I was going over for two weeks with my friends,” he says. “But it’s not the worst thing to happen. It was Richie [Murphy] who told me on the Monday after we got knocked out [of the United Rugby Championship]. He said I could be going over. But I didn’t really think too much of it with some of the good lads in the backrow/secondrow positions. Obviously, I was hopeful. Everyone’s hopeful. I got the email. It just asks if you can confirm you’ll be attending and I said, ‘yeah’.”

Izuchukwu is not the first player to have written himself out of an Irish script only to pivot towards being the most grateful player in the country to have a summer holiday scratched. He is also wise to understand the strength Ireland has at lock and in the backrow, although world-class players like Josh van der Flier fell over the line at the end of the season, while Tadhg Beirne has played more than any other Irish player.

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He has been training with the Irish squad as a lock but his storied path has taken him from England, where he lived for seven years, to Kilcormac, his Irish mother’s terrain. Mum is a Dooley, one of Offaly’s anointed GAA clans and his father is Nigerian. His roots are GAA but he has always had a Catholic appetite for all sport.

Cormac Izuchukwu is focused and keen to seize his moment. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho

The all-round athleticism and ability to move from one discipline to another has given him a comfort factor around playing whatever position he is given. At school he played football, hurling, basketball, athletics and at boarding school in Roscrea and Tullamore Rugby Club his position was in the centre.

Then one summer, he shot up five inches. By sixth year, he had been identified by Connacht and was invited for an under-19 screening day in Galway, but just a week beforehand catastrophe. He twisted his ankle playing tag. That was what he thought. A chance blown.

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So, he took a year out when still a teenager and went to play rugby in Scotland with no real plan. It wasn’t easy. But he had sold himself an idea of seeing the world, expanding his horizon. It was about much more than just playing.

“In my mind, I was just going to play for clubs all over the world and travel. I wanted to play in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. I wouldn’t have the money to go to them places but I thought through rugby when I left Tullamore, this is class because I can actually go places now.

“I was 18, went over, got 50 quid a week in a brown envelope and I was living in a town of like 3,000, travelling all over Scotland. Playing Prem 2 in Scotland for Kelso against teams you’ve probably never heard of or ever will.

Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu with ball in hand makes a break against opponents Munster in the URC fixture earlier in June. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho

“It was just me and a South African boy [Michael Downer]. We used to travel all over Scotland playing teams and that was when I realised I really do love playing rugby. In school, you enjoy it but there’s such a culture in boarding schools that I wasn’t used to because I went over [to Roscrea from Coláiste Choilm] in TY [4th year].

“It was a bit of a shock, it’s such a big culture. Then after school I realised I really do enjoy it, so I wanted to keep playing.”

Serendipity played a significant part in Kelso. One of the coaches was a New Zealander called Gary Stevens. He put Izuchukwu in touch with then-Irish director of rugby David Nucifora and before long he found himself playing for the Ireland Sevens team. Stevens had also coached with Crusaders and with the New Zealand under-20s and at one stage crossed paths with Irish winger James Lowe as his career arched.

“When I first moved over (to Scotland) the house wasn’t really set up properly because they had a history of players coming that were quite bad,” he says. “So, I actually had to sleep in his (Stevens) sittingroom until they realised I was good and then they gave me a proper house to live in.

“When I was living with him for those three days I probably learned the most I ever have in my career. He just got his laptop out and he was showing me all, like, spreadsheets and data stuff that I’d never seen before because I was obviously coming from school. Stuff that showed what he expects from a forward. I actually thought I played some good rugby there. I know it is not at a good level but the rugby with Gary was probably some of the best games I’ve ever played.”

Cormac Izuchukwu Izuchukwu had to learn to be a professional player and it took time for his body to adjust. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

It was Stevens who turned the backline player into a forward and Anthony Eddy who saw the raw material of a Sevens player. But Izuchukwu had to learn to be a professional player and it took time for his body to adjust. When he arrived in Ulster in 2020, they saw his 6ft 7in frame as a secondrow. Then when Murphy took over from Dan McFarland as Ulster coach earlier this year, he saw a flanker.

“That was all Richie,” he says. “I came in on a Monday and the team was announced and I was starting at six. I’ve only started like four professional games, so starting at six was a bit of a shock. He is just quite big on being yourself. Obviously, sticking to the game plan … but when it’s time to do your thing, do your thing. I had a good game against Scarlets, I think I got held up three times, a couple of words for me at half-time in that game, it was pretty funny.”

And to the point. “When you get over the line, f**king score a try,” Murphy told him.”

What Farrell hopes to see in South Africa is the Izzy that has been so dynamic for Ulster, his line breaks and good hands. Given where he now finds himself, the move seems inspired. He finds the lighter mauling demands give him more time to configure his explosive game and that’s a point of difference.

“I never thought I wasn’t good enough to play but the likelihood of it happening was so slim,” he says. “I didn’t see a route to get there. As everyone does at 18, I thought I was class.”

Who knows? Things may be finally panning out that way.

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson is a sports writer with The Irish Times

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