In defence of Bernard

HE’S Leinster’s John Hayes, is Bernard Jackman, or at least the John Hayes of a few years ago. Of all his team-mates, Jackman is the player most abused, most castigated and most belittled by many of rugby’s commentators, yet he is the player most appreciated by those who know best – his own.

The reason? Well, much as John Hayes was seen as being deficient in what many considered to be the principal duty of a tight-head prop – holding firm on his side of the scrum – Jackman is seen as being lacking in what many consider to be the primary duty of a hooker, throwing into the lineout.

Unfair criticism, says Shane Byrne, the man Jackman replaced as Leinster hooker – as wide of the mark as any stray dart ever thrown by Jackman himself.

Much as those who criticised Hayes for so long took no note of all the other duties carried out with such distinction by the Munster giant, missed out even on the far higher proportion of success over failure that he enjoyed at scrum time, so do Jackman’s critics miss the point about the Carlow man’s contribution to Leinster rugby.

“He’s been an integral part of the success of this team,” says Byrne. “He has brought great spirit to the team, great commitment – the only thing people can criticise is his lineout throwing but in my mind it’s the sum of the parts that people should look at, stop getting hung up on one thing.

“His throwing is what it is, and it could be helped in terms of the calls made, they could be more sensible. But look at all the work he gets through – he never stops, he puts his body on the line constantly, his work-rate in every game is fantastic. He has made a big impact with Leinster, his ball-carrying alone is impressive, but the way he hits the rucks, his defence, his all-round game, that’s what people should be looking at.”

Even after that Munster match, magnificent triumph that it was for Leinster, the Jackman critics were still there, and in considerable force. In a game in which they were forced to play second fiddle in almost every position, and in almost every facet of the game, the one area where Munster dominated was in the lineout, with the fingers pointing most accusingly at the Leinster hooker. All those lost line-outs? Jackman’s fault. Not so, he says: “Three of them were bad throws by myself, and then some very good defence by Munster. When we analysed it, (Paul) O’Connell’s defence was incredible. Three bad throws by myself, but we went and lost seven – thankfully it didn’t affect the result of the game, we got plenty of ball.”

And isn’t that the point? Phil Taylor he most certainly is not, but three stray throws in such a high-intensity game? Should a man be hung out to dry for that? And what of all those other attributes he brings to the plate – the tackles, the carries, the scrummaging, the rucks hit with reckless disregard for his own health, the aggressive defence, all highlighted by Byrne? Surely all that counts as some sort of balance against a few bad lineout throws?

Regardless, as a guy who has travelled the hard road to reach this point in his career, just a few days from a Heineken Cup final, Jackman himself is unfazed by all the brickbats flung in his direction.

“I don’t mind it,” he says, “Just take it on the chin. Some of those who criticise me have been in that position themselves. I know what I’m about, I try and give everything I have to the team, I bring a lot of strengths. I’m confident we’ll win plenty of lineout ball on Saturday, it won’t be the determining factor in whether we win or lose.”

Given that with Ben Kay and Tom Croft in the second-row, Leicester have a defensive lineout on a par with Munster’s pairing of Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan, that’s a strong statement to make. Yet, even as he acknowledges the power of Leicester, Jackman makes no apologies – far from it.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for them but we have confidence in our ability to win set-piece ball this weekend. Kay is like Paul, very good at reading the line-outs, at the organisational stuff, and Croft is just such an athlete – tall, quite light, very athletic, he’s able to get up there with a single lifter, which gives them two other pods to work with. I know it’s going to be a massive challenge, but I believe we’ll win plenty of ball.”

Spoken like a true warrior, and that’s what he is. Like so many on this Leinster squad, and in contrast to the stereotype, Jackman is salt of the earth, has battled his way to reach this position, the AIL his starting-point. “I hadn’t played Irish Schools, Leinster Schools, Irish U20’s or anything like that,’’ he recalls. “I was playing U20’s with Lansdowne, then towards the end of the season I was playing Junior 1 – Brent Pope was at a game, spotted me, asked me to come to Clontarf, who were playing AIL Division 2 at the time. Lucky enough we got promoted that year, Warren Gatland was player/coach in Galwegians (he had played against me in Division 2 and remembered me) and got me my first professional contract with Connacht.

“From there I went to Sale, came home, didn’t have a contract for a year so I went back to Clontarf, used the AIL again to get a contract with Leinster. For me the AIL has been incredibly important – I’d like to think a guy can still build a career from the AIL, the late developers who miss out on the academies. Just because you’re not the best player at 18 or 19 doesn’t mean you can’t make it at professional level.”

This coming season, having already signed up as Director of Rugby with Clontarf, Jackman will once again be back in the AIL, back to his roots, roots he never really left. As much as Brian O’Driscoll or any of the other South Africa-bound Lions, he is the face of Leinster rugby, a far more rugged and battle-scarred face than heretofore recognised. All the better for that, surely, and reason – perhaps – why they might just be crowned kings of Europe tomorrow.