Veteran O’Kelly still relishing big challenges
On the one hand, the veteran international second-row wonders at the spring-like capabilities of young Leinster and Irish prop Cian Healy; at the other end of the scale, he looks in awe at the durability of English second-row Danny Grewcock who intends carrying on playing for another season to bring him to the grand old age of 38.
“I’m only 35,” argues O’Kelly, reasoning what’s possible for the Englishman is possible for him too. Anyway, he doesn’t quite like the prospect of severing his links with Leinster players who are friends as well as colleagues.
Granted, O’Kelly sometimes finds it hard to contend with the rigours of the intensive training needed to keep him up to speed with his younger colleagues, although he is appreciative of certain allowances made by Leinster’s strength and conditioning staff.
“Sometimes it is an ongoing battle, I wouldn’t lie about that. I love the comforts of home, but this is such a great environment, the atmosphere in the squad is absolutely fantastic, even training in that (snow) can be enjoyable,” he declared yesterday as he anticipates being given some game time for the province in the Magners League tie against Glasgow this weekend.
He wouldn’t even be put off by the biting cold that has hit Dublin this week. “My concern is that the game goes ahead, I wouldn’t be worried about the weather (cold), I would look forward to it because I haven’t had a run out in a while,” he said.
The clock may be ticking, but O’Kelly believes that, in many ways, he is better able to deal with the heavy knocks now than in his younger days. Behind the scenes, he practices yoga and, unlike some of his colleagues, thoroughly enjoys it. “For a big fella, I’m fairly flexible; the type of yoga we practice is all about flexibility and movement, we do it once a week working to a very fancy DVD and I love it although some of the guys hate it,” he said.
He takes injuries in his stride too and remembers that he felt just as sore after games a decade ago. “I think it’s that I’m physically a lot stronger now. Okay, maybe I’m not a bouncy, springy guy like Cian Healy and the old shock absorbers aren’t quite working as well, but certain things have changed for the better.
“The thing is that if us guys get injured, at least we do the proper rehab, it’s not like poor people coming home injured after a ski accident; some of these people might never be right again – everything is centred on recovery if you get injured, we get to do proper rehab and that counts. Long term, I’m not particularly worried; I don’t see it as a major issue because I don’t see myself doing marathons or triathlons afterwards anyway,” he said.
O’Kelly is happy he has kept pace with the changes in the game since he began his professional career 14 years ago and those changes have been many. “You could say the game was turned on its head and twisted around in that time. We were a bunch of lads just doing our thing back then; now we’re pretty much like a well-oiled machine, there are huge differences.
“There are less set pieces but a lot more collisions; a lot of counter (attacking) stuff, lots of long-distance running in rugby terms. You’re going from one kick to the next kick and Glasgow are a team that do a lot of kicking. Our front five will be in the middle of the field going up and back, certainly doing some things that were never done much before but every game brings new challenges and it’s never less than interesting,” he said.
Grewcock may be the grand old man of English rugby, but don’t bet on O’Kelly not emulating him. The good news for Leinster is they will have first call if he does decide to play on.
“I think it’s a decision I will make with Leinster. I’m unlikely to go off and play elsewhere. With such a strong squad it’s not easy to get into the team, whether there will be a place for me in the squad next year is another thing but I enjoy being here and I value what I have. It’s like I don’t want to finish.”
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