Not sure what this means!
McGrath enjoying Leinster life but Western force awaits
Friday, January 03, 2014
RABODIRECT PRO12:
Connacht v Leinster
Sometimes you are better standing still if you want to go places.
Jack McGrath: Made three appearances for Ireland in November. Picture: SPORTSFILEJack McGrath: Made three appearances for Ireland in November. Picture: SPORTSFILE
By Brendan O’Brien
Jack McGrath is proof of that.
Now aged 24 and with 50 Leinster appearances and three Irish caps to his credit, there was a time when the St Mary’s prop looked at the queue for places ahead of him in Dublin and thought that a new environment might well be in order.
Others had harboured the same thoughts and then acted on them.
When McGrath and Leinster pull into the Sportsground for their meeting with Connacht tomorrow night, they will make for the away dressing room knowing that they are about to meet a raft of familiar faces from across the hall.
Among them will be the UCD centre Dave McSharry and Jason Harris-Wright, the hooker who passed through Bray and Blackrock. Both were in the Leinster Academy at the same time as McGrath before seeking advancement elsewhere.
Such westward journeys are far from unusual amongst the Connacht squad with Paul O’Donoghue, Fionn Carr (twice) and Nathan White all having followed the same route and it makes for an interesting subplot in an always interesting fixture.
“Yeah, they’re always a tough side,” said McGrath. “With the players that have left here and gone to there, they have a point to prove to their old teammates, they really want to get one over on them. The likes of Nathan White, if he’s playing I could be up against him. Even then with the new guys coming in, Craig Clarke for example. He was captain of the Chiefs. To have someone who won the Super 15 two years in a row is great experience to have.”
That McGrath wasn’t another of those to sever his ties with Leinster and try his hand elsewhere was down to nothing more than a handful of appearances offered at the onset of his professional career by Joe Schmidt.
The progression since has been obvious. This is his fifth season in or around the first-team squad and his appearance figures to date are 1-6-13-18. With a dozen banked already this term, that graph will only continue to go one way. McGrath’s form should see to that. Three appearances for Ireland in November, including a start against Samoa, suggest signs of bigger and better to come and Cian Healy’s absence with injury could fast-track matters.
Leinster’s squad is undergoing something of a metamorphosis as many of those intrinsic to three Heineken Cup successes move on but the new wave gives reason for optimism.
McGrath’s increased visibility at loosehead has, for instance, been matched by that of Martin Moore who has proved there may be life at tight head for Irish rugby after Mike Ross finally joins John Hayes in retirement.
“It’s brilliant, it’s great for competition on both sides,” says McGrath.
All hands will again be required on deck tomorrow at a venue where Leinster have lost on three of their last five visits, and McGrath knows that only too well, though he has only played there once with the seniors.
That was this time two years ago when a gust of wind saw Miah Nikora’s late drop goal attempt fall just short under the Leinster crossbar and allowed the visitors cling on to a somewhat undeserved 15-13 win.
“It was one of my first starts two years ago, in Connacht,” said McGrath. “It was tough, one you’ll never forget. It’s a game Connacht get up for. It’s a tough spot to go. They’ve improved so much over the last two seasons and it’s going to be a tough one again.”
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