O’Kelly dreaming of century of caps

SIX days before Ireland flew out to their Rugby World Cup base in Bordeaux, Malcolm O’Kelly was surveying the future.

Wearing a Project Management (PM) hard hat and yellow bib, he walked the lunar landscape-like terrain that is the flattened Lansdowne Road site, which in 2009 will transform into glass, space ship-like 50,000 seater stadium in the heart of Dublin 4.

A qualified engineer and ambassador for PM, he will use his engineering degree when he hangs up the boots.

It’s 11 years since he signed professional forms for Clive Woodward’s London Irish and 10 since winning his first cap for Ireland against the All Blacks in November 1997 in Lansdowne Road.

The lopsided terraces and old world stands of the Dublin 4 venue are no more but, for the St Mary’s man who reached 50 international caps faster than any other Irish player, the memories of that day are still vivid.

“I remember us being very aggressive against the All Blacks. Mark McCall was keeping Frank Bunce out of the game. We did do very well and got a couple of scores but they changed their tactics in the second half and more or less went up through the guts of us. They were much more solid and stronger than we were and they wore us down really.”

O’Kelly, like fellow Mary’s man Denis Hickie, holds a unique place in this Ireland squad. Both straddle the halcyon days of professionalism to today’s more scientific, high performance standards.

When he started off in London Irish, he encountered Clive Woodward and the World Cup winning coach’s lateral thinking. “He claims to be one of the first people to bring rock music to the Premiership. When we’d score a try, you had Tina Turner belting in the background. That was one of the more obvious things, but there was much more to him than that. He believed in not playing with a number on your back. It was just one of his motto — that you shouldn’t go out with a number on your back. ‘Just because I’m wearing number four doesn’t mean I can’t pass the ball, I can’t kick the ball’ – that kind of thing. As you can imagine, some coaches would have problems with me kicking the ball!”

O’Kelly, who to date has won 86 caps for Ireland, is a mystery to many. You form perceptions of the lock forward as a laid-back character, of taking each day in his long stride. And in a way the perception is real. He doesn’t disguise it in conversation, but you wonder then how has he stayed the distance and how he is also set to become Ireland’s most capped player in World Cup history?

There was a story to capture the essence of the Leinster man from Matt Williams’ days as coach of the province. Training was about to begin. Everyone was present bar O’Kelly. An irate Williams burst through the dressing room door, and roared at O’Kelly who was stretched out having a nap. To Matt’s rage O’Kelly responded: “Matt, can I just spend a few quiet moments communicating with maker?” Williams, knowing the man so well, burst into laughter.

Coaches naturally become more pushy when dealing with O’Kelly because they know there is always more in him. He has no problems with that and reacts well to the prodding. “That’s the way coaches are and they’re all similar in that way. They all want to get the best out of the players. That’s their job. So you have to respect that.You need to get the results.”

His career has taken in the philosophies of many coaches and, at national level, he has moved from the avant-garde techniques of Brian Ashton to the more professional Warren Gatland era.

Under Eddie O’Sullivan he remains a big part of the Ireland set-up. He has had run-ins with O’Sullivan in the past, but respects his Ireland coach and says he was thrilled to see the Corkman rewarded with a contract extension.

“I wouldn’t have minded it myself — I certainly won’t be getting anything like it,” he jokes. “Seriously, I’m delighted for him. He had put in a lot of hard work, his success rate speaks for itself and that’s why they’ve given it to him. He’s a good motivator of players, and was built for the professional era. The IRFU aren’t going to give him a contract unless he deserves it.”

He says O’Sullivan is guy who doesn’t hold a grudge and, with O’Kelly, there have been times when he irritates his coach by enjoying the crack too much or not getting into the zone where O’Sullivan likes his players to be.

“We’ve been through a lot, but he is the kind of guy who, if you go out of line, he’ll knock you down for it. And similarly, he’ll put it behind him if you prove yourself. He respects me as a player and he knows how to get the best out of me.”

He is on the cusp of playing in his third World Cup. He could find himself in demand from the beginning as O’Sullivan opted to bring just three specialist lock forwards, but an impressive tour of Argentina showed why a man of his experience could be vital in a tournament situation. But someone who appears so relaxed as to be horizontal is keen to play a central and vocal role at team meetings and in the dressing room.

“I’ve played a certain part already as squad member – the key for us is not to have left anything behind and not to have not said anything. If there’s a problem, it comes out. We won’t let it linger. As a senior player, I see it as my job to say ‘we need to work on this’. We have a great squad but we just have to make sure we’re doing everything we can to give ourselves every chance of winning.”

A team player first and foremost, he admits he’d love to reach 100 caps. He is contracted until the end of this season and fears the IRFU might favour a “clean out” next summer and he could part of the cull. He wants to play on before opting for a job with PM. “I’d love to reach 100. Absolutely, but don’t know if I’ll get there. Missing the last Six Nations has probably been a nail in the coffin but I’m completely happy with the number of caps I’ve got so far. I might try and hang in there for another few.”