Proud O’Leary reveals TV drama

FOR Tomás O’Leary, the wait for the squad announcement was filled with as much suspense as it was for everyone else. With no prior notification forthcoming, the Munster scrum-half was in the dark until yesterday’s lunchtime announcement that he had bagged one of the coveted spots on the 37-man panel.

“I found out watching Sky Sports live at half one. I was inside in the gym watching it and there was a crowd around. A few of the Munster forwards were there as it was just before their session, while I was in getting physio. It was fairly nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.

“There were a few cheers when I got called out. Then when I got out of the gym, I’d a few missed calls. I talked to my family and my girlfriend about it, which was great. They heard it as well on the news at the same time as me.”

The news that he will be boarding the plane to South Africa caps a meteoric rise for O’Leary, having only nailed down a place in the Irish team during their recent Six Nations campaign. When the Lions toured New Zealand four years ago, being involved at such a stage was far from his mind.

“When the Lions last toured I was in the Munster Academy and coming into the first few years in the senior team,” he explained. “I was just training away at home with the Academy and watching the Lions updates day by day on TV.

“I used to sit at home watching Lions tours when I was younger and watching all these great rugby players. I’d say my earliest memory is watching Jeremy Guscott dropping the goal to beat South Africa in 1997.

“Watching all those great players is what it means to me, and hopefully I’ll follow in their footsteps now. I’d enough on my plate recently trying to get into the Munster and Ireland team. It was at the back of my mind alright, and the last few weeks I had been thinking a bit about it. I’m glad to get selected now. It’s an honour and a privilege.”

O’Leary will form part of an eight-man strong Munster contingent, but his thoughts still lay with those who had missed out.

“You do feel for the lads who don’t get picked, like Peter (Stringer) and Denis Leamy, lads like that were close. I suppose that’s just the nature of the sport, you’re lucky or unlucky. Obviously we’re a very tight-knit bunch here and it’s great for all the lads who got picked. It’s great for Paul as well to be captain. We’ve massive respect for him as our leader with Munster and I’m sure he’ll do great with the Lions now as well.”

Despite the Lions honour, O’Leary insists his focus will be firmly trained on the looming fixtures with Munster.

“It won’t be hard to focus at all. Already I’m thinking of Munster on Friday night against Llanelli. We’re at the business end of the season and we’re concentrating on that. There’s good professionalism within the squad, everyone wants to win. You can get satisfaction when things are going well but you must stay focused.”