No fooling as Donncha plays his last joker
DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN is protesting to a photographer trying to pose the Munster second row in such a way that the madcap smile we have become so familiar with over the past five seasons is prominent in the picture he wants to take.
“Why do I always have to do the mad things?” the disgruntled Munster second row queries - a reasonable question, but one to which he knows the answer.
Make a reputation and, chances are, it will stick. If the public are happy and tickled by madcap, happy-go-lucky Donncha, then that’s what they are going to see more of.
Of course, under the wild-eyed and frizzle-headed exterior, there is a serious international rugby player, but the public have come to expect the youthful antics that are now part of the Donncha persona.
He says he doesn’t know how his reputation as a joker has been established, because as far as he can see, the whole Munster squad is full of them. “You’d want eyes in the back of your head around here because if you’re trying to keep an eye on one of them, you can be sure another one is up to devilment. And it’s the quiet guys like Jason Holland you really have to watch out for.
“But it’s all about doing thing that fellas my age do. The thing is that when you cross the white line it is so intense and when it is over, all you want is a bit of fun. It’s never anything too messy, just a bit of fun and I think it builds team spirit too.”
Change is in the air, however, and the 25-year-old is obviously growing up and developing into a new, more focused and less slapstick character.
Recovery from a calf injury has taken time, but he is now eager to get back in action.
“The calf was nothing major at all. It was a minor tear and a lot of the fibres are still intact, but these injuries are kind of nasty and have happened to guys like John Hayes, Jim Williams and Keith Wood. If you don’t treat them right you can be out for an awful long time. John advised me not to rush back with it.
“I could have been available for selection last week, but the management looked after me and thought it was best I got the calf 100% right and I’m very grateful to them for doing that.”
He agrees that from a playing point of view, the soft-hands approach at provincial and international level is reassuring. “You’re not such a bit of property as far as they are concerned; they do care about you and I knew as soon as I tore my calf that they wouldn’t risk me or endanger me in any way. All the players are grateful we have such good management both here in Munster and in Ireland.
“I’m raring to go, because the injury happened after our 10-week pre-season and I was out for another four weeks, so I treated it as a continuation of the pre-season and I used it to work on some areas of my game.”
O’Callaghan has been part of the Munster phenomenon since they reached their first final back in 1999 and, having been introduced as a raw 19-year-old to the squad by Declan Kidney, he has been ever present - although he admits that he has never stopped learning along the line.
“I remember being brought on as a sub against Perpignan that season and then being taken back off again, which was quite embarrassing, but the whole thing was such an eye-opener. You cannot compete against these teams unless you’re physically developed and that was a real wake-up call. I had been confident about my rugby skills, but all the guys were just streets ahead of me and I knew I had a lot of work to do to catch up.
“The biggest game I had played up to that was a schools’ cup final and I remember throwing every ounce of myself into a tackle on their number eight and I just came right off him. I wasn’t able to live with these fellas and it wasn’t for a lack of effort. I knew I had to get into the gym and work hard on it.”
It was frustrating for him in the Munster outfit at the time because he was in a long queue behind Mick Galwey, John Langford, Mick O’Driscoll and so on. He had offers from other clubs (as eventually happened to O’Driscoll), but he says that Kidney and Niall O’Donovan always made him feel that Munster was his home, the right place to be.
“Throwing on a Munster shirt means everything to me. Other than playing for Ireland, I don’t think I could play for another team and give it as much as I do. It has to do with friends, it has to do with my family - my mother and my brothers - it is something I love. That’s why when you go out there, you give it everything.
“But you never have a right to it. You have work hard at it and I am very grateful to Declan and Niallo for bringing me along. I am also lucky that Alan Gaffney came along after them, because he put me in the team and had a lot of faith in me.”
As Munster’s fortunes continued on their stellar path, Donncha’s own career saw international recognition come his way and it was, he says, “the proudest day of my life” when he pulled on an Irish shirt for the first time, fulfilling a boyhood dream.
And, with the Lions tour beckoning next summer, that is also something he would love to do. “Janey,” he says, contemplating possible selection, “that would be nice, because you always want to play at the highest level. But first things first - the thing I have to concentrate on right now is my first game back. I’ve learned from Ronan (O’Gara) that you never think more than a week ahead in this game and I’m only really thinking about the next training session and getting back into this Munster team.”
He has taken on board the criticism levelled at his team-mates in the wake of the Harlequins game, but is loathe to join in. “You know they’ve given 100% when they’ve come off the pitch so it is hard to criticise the players and the way I look at it is that they got a win. It doesn’t matter if it was only by one point - it was a win. And that will be the attitude on Sunday because we know the Ospreys are good.”
For a man with a reputation as a gregarious guy, there is definitely a new Donncha O’Callaghan emerging.
Take it for granted there will be less of the madcap japes from here on.
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