Donn O Sullivan spoke to Munster and Ireland scrum half Tomas O’Leary this week
TWO years ago, as France scored in the final seconds to beat Ireland, in what turned out to a championship winning moment, Tomas O Leary was not on the field. In fact, he wasn’t even in Croke Park. The Cork native was at home in front of the TV. At the time, the 25-year-old was behind Peter Stringer at both province and country, things didn’t look good for the hard tackling scrum half.
Since then though, Tomas has won another Heineken Cup, this time as a starter and has also bumped Stringer, Reddan and Boss to make the number nine jersey his own. When asked about his rise in the last two years and whether he even contemplated leaving Munster to get ahead, O Leary gave an insight into what makes Munster and now Ireland tick.
“Deccie was in charge when I started at Munster first. He was always on about being patient and that if you looked after your bread and butter you would get your chance. If you look at lads like Marcus Horan and Donncha O Callaghan, they all had to be patient before they got their run in the Munster team. Then, if you are playing week in and week out with Munster, you have a chance to get in the Ireland team. There was never a thought in my head about leaving. In the set up at the moment with Munster and Ireland, I am playing with the best players in the world”.
Making his six nations starting debut is a special thing for any man, but when you are scrum half to a Munster 10 and behind a pack that has six reds in it, will Tomas be less nervous about the game? “I suppose it is easier to be playing with the lads you know. When the game gets going at the higher pace that international rugby is, then of course a world class player like Rog is a huge asset, as is playing behind that pack. The six lads are great mates and when you add in Fez, (Ferris) and Heaslip, you get a pack that can supply you with great quick ball”.
The Ireland manager has shown great loyalty to Tomas, including him in the All Blacks game in the Autumn and now again in the Six Nations, but how hard is it to stay in the managers mind from one international group of fixtures to another. O Leary believes that scrum half competition at both Ireland and Munster are the key. “If you look at the scrum halves available to Ireland at the moment. Strings, Reddan, Boss, then factor in Prendie and Williams at Munster, you cannot take your eye of the ball for a minute. It’s not just at scrum half either, Deccie has a load of lads training with the squad over the last few weeks and they are all part of his plays. It’s a case now of taking my chances when I get them.”
Ahead of Saturday, Tomas is expecting a tough, hard encounter and he doesn’t buy into the fact that France are there for the taking, “I know people have been speaking about Toulouse being the only French team in the Heineken Cup quarter finals, but that matters little to a French camp. The French will be as big a challenge as they always have. I think we have only beaten them three times in the professional era, so that will show you how hard it is. International rugby is a step up in intensity, physicality and pace from the Heineken Cup. The Cup is a great standard, but the six nations is another jump in level”.
Ahead of the six nations as a whole, Kidney has asked that pride be restored in the Irish jersey. Tomas has two Heineken Cup medals, so is getting up for Ireland games hard after all that success? “Playing for Ireland is the ultimate honour. The ultimate honour. Any fella who tells you anything else is talking bull. I don’t want to retire and think I should have won more, I want to go out there and win it. Nothing would make me prouder than to win in green”.
DOB – 22nd Oct 1983
Birthplace – Cork
Height – 5’ 11”
Weight – 13 st 5 lb
Position – Scrum Half
Province – Munster
Honours – Ireland (3 caps)
