Kidney changes pay off as Tomás proves a sure thing
If he saw the presumptive headlines claiming Declan Kidney had taken a “gamble” on him, the question mark over his selection must have irked the new No 9. But O’Leary delivered on the biggest club stage of all, in a ground depicted as a graveyard for visiting teams, especially Munster teams of the past. He ticked all the critical boxes for a scrum half. His much-maligned pass is improving, but, as a decision maker and a natural competitor, he gave a performance that made one think he has been doing this gig since the beginning of Munster’s love affair with the Heineken Cup.
Ronan O’Gara has said in the past that he really respects O’Leary’s opinion on the game. It’s little wonder — the quick-footed scrum-half possesses razor-sharp rugby intelligence, and played close to the perfect game alongside the established O’Gara and behind the most experienced pack in European rugby.
He was just 13 when he picked up a rugby ball at CBC, the school star from first year through to Leaving Cert, who was always destined for the big time. He was also a star hurler in his teens, captaining Cork to All-Ireland minor glory in 2001. On Leeside, they say if he had taken a left for Páirc Uí Chaoimh instead of a right for Musgrave, he would most likely be a regular now on the Cork seniors.
For now, becoming a regular on a Munster team will do.
For close to three years, he’s playing the patient understudy to Stringer. One remembers the day he mesmerised Leinster at Musgrave Park seven days before his Heineken Cup debut away to Sale in October 2005. He then flirted with a place on the wing, and Kidney had designs on keeping him there, but he preferred scrum-half, often returning to the more unglamorous world of the AIL with Dolphin to perfect his craft.
In essence, his game is built around innate rugby intelligence, smartness in these high-octane, pressure-cooker clashes. Above all, like his Dad, Seanie, who won five All-Ireland senior hurling medals with Cork, Tomás is coolness personified.
He said he was “kinda hoping” to get the nod, and when the call came, he answered it with the kind of display reserved for the fantasy world of Roy of the Rovers comics. It was close to unblemished and surely he has cemented his place at nine until the end of the season.
“It’s good to get a chance to play in the Heineken Cup but we’re all in it for the squad,” he reminded us. “I’ve been training hard to try and get a chance like this and I’m happy enough with the way it went.
“I suppose I was just looking forward to it all week. Obviously in the last couple of days the nerves built up a little but that’s natural. If the nerves aren’t there, there’s probably something wrong.
“When you’re up against Peter, there’s nothing certain. It was a nice surprise and hopefully I’ll get another chance again. It was a great buzz to play in front of a crowd like that. That’s what you want to be in front of. It’s a brilliant place to play over here, the crowd was great, and that’s the kind of atmosphere you want to play in each week.”
O’Leary’s season took a bad turn before Christmas. He was hospitalised for close to a month, battling pneumonia, but he has returned a stronger player with “a different perspective” on the game he loves.
“Getting sick didn’t help but I’m fully healthy now and it’s been great to get back training and playing. I suppose it has given me different perspective and I’m just happy to be back in contention.”
IN A highly physical encounter, full of massive collisions, it was the Munster defence that stood tall, depriving Gloucester of a try and keeping them to just three points.
“We don’t want to concede tries and first-up tackles are key in every game. We want to bring great physicality to the game and just keep making our tackles all day. That’s basically the game-plan.
“The first-up tackles were generally good and when they did get through, the scramble was excellent as well. We have a great defensive coach and attacking coach so we have a great back-up team there.
“With 10 minutes to go, you’d be hoping that you don’t lose from there. You have to keep going to the final whistle, as the old cliché goes.”
His most memorable cameo came six minutes from time. From turnover ball off a lineout inside their own half, O’Leary took off on a 40m run through the middle before finding touch, GAA-style, in Gloucester’s 22 five metres from the line. The moment summed up Munster’s day, and Tomas’s instinct on the big day.
Some gamble!
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