From Tiger cub to Leinster lion

THE SQUALLS had returned when Leinster convened for their long day of training in Donnybrook on Monday but Eric Miller wasn’t for clouding over.

Chatty and good-humoured, both eyes trained on the physical obstacle ahead on Sunday. Perpignan in Lansdowne Road.

Leinster are so close to the European Cup final now, they are smelling it around south county Dublin. But don’t ask Miller about a possible European title or the dream final or anything that means looking past Sunday.

Too much has been crammed into his eventful career to even entertain the possibility of the two Irish provinces clashing in May. For a long time, it seemed any version of his sporting life would have to be sound-tracked by the Specials’ standard, Too Much, Too Young.

A Lion at 21 in South Africa, the poster-boy of Irish rugby. A young star with the perfect pedigree, educated at both Wesley College and Loughborough university. Only for the road to greatness to veer off in too many unforeseen directions.

Coming back a hero from South Africa did him no favours. Leicester were determined to milk the young Irish talent for all he was worth. Playing over 40 games for the Welford Road outfit didn’t do his tired bones any good.

“I think I did suffer early on in my career from playing a bit too much rugby,” he concedes.

“But back then, I wanted to play as much rugby as I could. I was in the middle of all this hype and I was loving it at the time. When everything is going well, you don’t want it to end.

“Looking back now, maybe I did suffer for a couple of years because of the amount of rugby I played, but fortunately, I am young enough to learn from the experience and to rebound from it. I am still only 27, a lot of guys haven’t had the chance to experience a Lions tour even by my age now.”

Still only 27. In a way, it is difficult to believe. Although, he looked boyish and impish in the famous red shirt, it seems longer than six years ago. So much has happened since. The difficult second season with Leicester led to all sorts of injury problems and Miller’s face, the future of Irish rugby at one stage, virtually disappeared.

He was the first of the players to experience the problems of the new age as Leicester wouldn’t let him return to Ireland because of contractual difficulties.

When they eventually did, it wasn’t to his home patch he returned, but to the north and Harry Williams. While he considers it unfair to draw comparisons between Leinster now and Ulster then (especially being reared in south Dublin), Miller enjoyed his few months with the province.

“I was pretty well guaranteed my football and Harry was good for me and my game. At the time, it was the right move for me,” Miller explains. Yet, it was a different tribe that came to Ravenhill and amid the harsher accents, Miller found a yearning for the capital and the nights in Donnybrook.

“I did want to come back to Dublin. Mike Ruddock didn’t guarantee me a starting place but I was happy enough with that. I think playing with both provinces has added considerably to my game.”

When he arrived back in Donnybrook, days like Sunday seemed the stuff of dreams. But like everyone associated with Leinster, Miller could trace the potential right back to his schooldays.

“The potential was always there through schools level, but a lot of very talented players dropped out of the game after school because they have suffered from too much rugby too soon in their lives.

“That is something which needs to be looked at, it is still happening. I know now, with schools rugby the way it is going, it is almost like the players are professional. A balance needs to be reached, if Ireland doesn’t want to lose some future talent.”

Miller never had to worry about too much rugby, at least not until he turned professional. In school, he was as much a Gaelic and soccer player as rugby nut. His athleticism is a combination of all three sports in his early years, he even won a U21 championship medal with his club Ballyboden/St Endas.

“Rugby was never pushed onto me, the way it has been done to other fellas. I was basically left on my own to make my own choice, which is what should be done with every youngster.”

His talent was such that he was always going to choose rugby. The choice didn’t have to be made for him.

Even now, memories of the more innocent Miller in those Six Nations games six years ago carry a promise of what could have been. If only he was allowed to pace himself better. “I was spoiled in a way in that all my good times came at once, in my first season. With a little bit of perspective now, I know it was just a case of right man in the right place at the right time. Some great players go through their whole careers without playing for the Lions.

“I did it at a very young age, and I will be forever grateful that the chance came to me. But, there is a down-side to hitting your peak that early. I think the injuries are a combination of trying to stay at that high level and the amount of games I was playing. I suppose, in my first couple of seasons, nothing went bad for me. And I was putting pressure on myself to keep performing consistently at that level.

“Over the last few years, I have learnt to relax a lot more and I am enjoying my rugby more.”

The past couple of seasons have provided Miller with plenty of frustrations. When you hear somebody mention his name now, you almost expect it to be in connection with a new injury. Two or three years ago, any time he regained his place on the Irish team, some new injury had reduced him to the bench before the final whistle.

“There have been a lot of injuries,” he admits. “But things have been going well since Christmas. There has been no major problems and I feel at my peak physically.” Having travelled around a bit before settling back in Dublin, does Miller appreciate the explosion in Leinster rugby all the more?

“Well, I really enjoyed my time at Leicester. It was great to be part of such a big club, such a successful club. The buzz is different with Leinster, it is a bit more special, because this is my home town, a lot of these players I know for years and we had just developed such a great team spirit.

“That seems to have rubbed off on the support, I mean, 45,000 or whatever it was Leinster supporters for the quarter-finals. That is truly a special thing to be involved in. This has been a truly memorable experience, but we aren’t finished yet.”

Some observers mightn’t have been overly impressed by how Leinster dispensed with the French champions in the quarter, but Miller says the team were pleased with their performance. As far as they were concerned, it was a hurdle they weren’t able to jump last year.

“We were surprised by the amount of cohesion. We thought we gave a far more cohesive performance than we were banking on, because our preparation was so fragmented. We’ve had two extra weeks and the team feels fresher, but that won’t count for anything against Perpignan.”

PERPIGNAN, for those who have forgotten, clinically dispelled the myth that French teams don’t travel by over-running Gloucester in England. They also won in Wales and almost stamped out any lingering Munster dreams on their own patch. They don’t have the names of the big French two, but they are a formidable proposition for any side in their first European Cup semi-final.

“We have been watching them on video, and they are a very strong, very physical side. If we do get through this game, we will know we have been in a match. They rely on their grit and their toughness and we will have to be mentally tough.

“You hear it all the time in the European Cup that French teams don’t travel, but these guys have a great record away from home. It is going to be a fairly bruising encounter.”

That is something Eric Miller is used to. Having seen his star shoot high so early in his career, he has the bruises and knocks that go with being a marked man. Once or twice in the Irish jersey, opponents have tried to lift his head from his shoulders and he has paid the price for it. A month out injured here, three months out of the game there. It has been a rocky-rough road for Miller after his initial burst onto it.

But, he’s still standing. He’s still only 27. And Leinster are still in the European Cup. There is even the possibility of a Pacific tour in June to lay a claim for a World Cup place. The times he stood in Lansdowne Road as a frustrated spectator, nursing an injured shoulder or ankle, that seemed too distant a prospect.

Not anymore.

Miller knows things could have turned out a lot worse for him. He could have nothing better to do than to complain about the change in the weather.