Blaney relishing return as Leinster face Blues

THANKS to the vagaries of the rugby calendar, one man’s promotion to the national side can leave his club shirt more exposed, which is exactly the case as Brian Blaney fills in for Bernard Jackman as Leinster’s hooker this week.

Having featured in both of Ireland’s Six Nations games so far, Jackman will be on R&R on Saturday when his province take on Cardiff in a crucial Magners League tie at the RDS, and Blaney is relishing his opportunity. Two years ago, it was Blaney who had first claims on the number two shirt but possession began to swing Jackman’s way last season and he has consolidated his grip this year.

Blaney has featured in all but three of Leinster’s game but the overwhelming majority have been as a replacement for Jackman, always inside the last quarter and quite often with only a handful of minutes to play.

His first start didn’t come until the Magners League game against the Ospreys in late November. His second and, to date, last start came only last month against the same Welsh region.

Jackman’s growing stature is evident by digging further into the stats. Blaney has played only 21 minutes of Heineken Cup rugby this year, spread out across four games. Four of those minutes were as an enforced temporary substitution.

He was also left on the bench for the entire 80 minutes when Leinster claimed an impressive victory down in Musgrave Park against Munster late last year. No wonder then that he claims to be “very much looking forward to” Saturday.

He watched last Saturday’s game in Paris with interest and demonstrates his allegiance to the hookers’ union by praising Jackman’s all-round contribution while deflecting some of the blame for the stuttering lineout away from his clubmate.

“There’s a lot of things that go into it. It’s the lift, the movement, the call. One thing I noticed was that Ireland seemed to be very slow in their movement when they did call for movement, which allowed the French to get up. If the movement had been a bit quicker, there would have been no problem.”

He accepts Julien Bonnaire’s expertise might have contributed to the visitors’ struggles at the lineout while adding that Jackman might have participated in his own downfall at times too.

Both hookers have spent time with former Armagh footballer Enda McNulty, a psychology and sports science graduate. Jackman utilised some of his breathing/relaxation tips last weekend, which seemed to delay his throw-in.

“In a situation like that, you would want to get to the lineout first and just get it in and out straight up, instead of all this movement and getting the call,” said Blaney.

“I would have got there as quickly as I could and called a quick call, a trigger call. It seemed dragged out a little and you can’t allow the French that sort of time.”

Blaney’s Gaelic football links stretch back even further to cousin Greg, who won two All-Ireland medals with Down in 1991 and 1994 but rugby is in his blood. Two of his three brothers have also played professional rugby as a hooker.

The fourth sibling, Dermot, somehow turned into a flanker. Cleaning out rucks one minute and composing yourself for darts the next, hooker is a unique position. Blaney, naturally, agrees that it may not be given the respect it deserves.

“It’s not like a kicker even though everyone says ‘God, I’d hate to be the kicker’. It should be more a case of ‘God, I’d hate to be the thrower’. The kicker is on his own in his own little bubble. He is just facing two posts, as opposed to 16 men.”

With a clutch of full internationals absent, Blaney won’t be the only player looking to find his mark at the weekend against a Cardiff side bidding to avenge at defeat at Arms Park at the start of the season.

“There are big shoes to fill and it will have a massive bearing on the league. It is a final for us. We have to look at it that way. If we win the game it puts us in a very strong position to go on and win the league, which would be going one better than last year.”