Connolly in a league of his own

IT may be quite hard for Irish people to understand, but for top rugby league stars in the UK, their lives are every bit as much of public interest as their soccer counterparts - more so in many ways.

Former Great Britain star Gary Connolly lived life in that goldfish bowl for nearly 17 years. These days, however, he plies his trade with Munster in the union code. A life away from tabloid hacks and screaming headlines suit him fine. It has allowed him enjoy the latter part of his career simply because he can concentrate on doing what he does best - giving 100% effort on the field of play.

This weekend’s game against Sale may, depending on the outcome, could turn out to be his Munster swan song, as he was only contracted to play with the team until the end of the group stages of the Heineken Cup, but with the option of extending his stay should they progress.

But that’s largely irrelevant to him, because he is only interested in doing his bit for the team. A folk hero wherever he has played, he’s not as much in the spotlight now as he has been, but he still finds it nice that Munster supporters occasionally recognise him and stop him in the street for a chat.

“In England you’ve got to compete with football, which is massive, but Rugby League is basically a northern sport and you’ve got lots of small towns for whom Rugby League is the thing. It is a real passion for them. But you can travel five miles down the road and they’ve never heard of you - or Rugby League for that matter.

“Over here it is different in that everyone - between Limerick and Cork - is right behind you and there is a real buzz every time a big game comes up. That’s something the players definitely respond to,” he says.

Connolly arrived in Munster last September following an unexpected call from former colleague and now Munster (and Ireland) defensive coach, Graham Steadman. Six days later he scored two tries on his debut against Connacht.

At 34 years of age he pretty much thought his career was over, but he was delighted to get the call and only too pleased to bring his skill and experience to bear in Ireland. He also feels he’s adapted quickly to the challenge. “It’s helped obviously that I’m a back, because a forward coming from league would have a lot more technical aspects of the game to grasp. But as a centre, I’ve had no real problems. But if you’d have told me a year or six months ago I’d be playing for Munster, I’d have laughed.

“But you never know what’s around the corner and I honestly don’t know what will happen next. But if it is the case that I end my career playing for Munster, then I’d be very happy with that.

In recent games, Connolly has lost his place to Barry Murphy, but he still has a role as an impact sub - he is hoping to play some part this Saturday. He played in the reverse fixture at Sale and thinks that the fans are in for another very close encounter.

“Their defence was very good that night and they made it very hard for us to penetrate. Their kicking game was much better than ours and that allowed them to keep us under pressure. This time around we’ve got to try and nullify those two things.

“Having said that, we were right in the game until the end. We made one mistake and they scored a try off it. It was a very tight game and I think it will be the same this weekend.”

Connolly does not reckon Philippe Saint Andre’s side will be making any drastic personnel or tactical changes this weekend. “Why would they have to change anything? They’ve been going really well and they’ll simply be looking to keep playing the way they’ve been doing. They weren’t maybe at their best against the Dragons last weekend, but it is a sign of a good team that they can play badly by their own standards and still win.

“They’ll probably be favourites going into the game, but we don’t mind that because we’ve a proud record at Thomond. It will be a fantastic atmosphere and I’m sure the players will rise to that.”

Connolly says that in some ways Thomond brings back memories of certain venues he played at during his career in the north of England, in towns untainted by soccer or other sporting diversions - where Rugby League was the be-all and end-all. In a union context, however, he doubts there are few venues as daunting or where the crowd are as vocal as the Limerick venue. “It is,” he says, “the most intimidating union venue I’ve ever played at.”