Belief the key as Deasy kicking on
The 21-year-old former Presentation Brothers Cork star-in-waiting carries a quiet belief that he has the raw materials at his disposal to become a future fulcrum of the Munster backline.
Take his performance in the Magners League encounter against Edinburgh at Musgrave Park in February, when he was thrust into the fray at out-half early on, as a replacement for the injured Paul Warwick.
Deasy, left, who is finishing his final year in the Munster Academy, had a nightmare with the placed ball, and a lesser character may have wilted under the pressure.
But he went on to score all of his side’s 19 points, including a breathtaking solo try that’s so good, it’s been viewed 17,000-odd times on YouTube.
“I’d be a big fan of compartmentalising my kicking,” explains the third-year Finance student at UCC. “You can’t let it affect your general play. On that night (vs Edinburgh), it wasn’t really a mental thing – I’d been going through five or six weeks of bad kicking at the time, and luckily it’s come good again.
“But I’m confident in my general play, and I don’t see why goal-kicking should affect it at all.”
All place-kickers are familiar with the doses of the yips which emerge from time to time, but Deasy follows Ronan O’Gara’s lead in insisting that technique must be trusted, even when things aren’t going according to plan. It could just be one or two slight things wrong in your approach to the ball, or the way you’re lining it up,” he says. “Usually, if you just break it down again, go through the reps, you’ll find the formula.”
Deasy is, of course, much more than a goalkicker, as anyone who’s watched him put in star turns for UCC and Cork Con in recent years will testify.
His all-round skill set, which includes a keen eye for a gap, a deceptive turn of pace and a fine range of passing, enables him to play anywhere in the back-line, bar perhaps scrum-half.
Such versatility is often a double-edged sword, as Keith Earls has found out by being shunted from centre to wing to full-back for Munster, Ireland and the Lions.
But Deasy and the Munster hierarchy see it as a positive trait.
“That used to weigh heavily on my mind, which position I should be playing,” he admits. “But I’ve spoken to the Munster coaches and they think my versatility is a good thing.”
Deasy says he’s surpassed his expectations in a Munster shirt this term, having started three times in red, making 12 appearances in total as well as being a regular in the side that has reached the final of the British and Irish Cup, a competition he’s a big fan of.
“It really bridges the gap between the All-Ireland and Magners Leagues. You saw in the recent Connacht match in the Magners, it was a young Munster side but a lot of those guys had played in the B&I Cup, and they had no problems stepping up to that level.”
Nonetheless, the Crosshaven native finishes by admitting he is constantly re-assessing his goals.
“I’ve tried to make the most of the opportunities I’ve been given, and I’ve outdone my expectations for this year. But I’m not just happy being involved, I want to start pushing fellas for their position in the 22 for the Heineken Cup games. You just have to keep working hard, and you’ll get selected.”
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