‘This would stand out for any Irish guy’
One might think he’d be happy with an U19 World Cup medal, two Heineken Cup winners medals and one Magners League crown Munster, participation in Ireland’s four Triple Crowns and a Grand Slam success in the last decade, as well as Test caps for the British and Irish Lions.
O’Callaghan wants more, however. Highest on the list of current priorities is to help Ireland create history and beat the New Zealand All-Blacks for the first time at the Aviva Stadium later today.
Undaunted in his pursuit of victory, he said: “These are the days when you want to be a professional player; you live for days like this.
“It comes with massive responsibility and huge pressure but that’s all part of it.”
O’Callaghan’s desire is fuelled by the experience gained in playing against New Zealand several times.
“Yeah, you pick up little bits from all of them, apart from maybe the last one when we didn’t even pack a punch (New Zealand won 66-28) and it was probably so easy for them to get the result.”
Referring to that game when Ireland had Jamie Heaslip sent off and Ronan O’Gara yellow carded in the space of a few minutes, O’Callaghan said: “We came off the pitch wondering did we even make them change out of gear, did they take the foot off the pedal and even feel sorry for us? “That can kind of anger you a bit and then some other ones crop into mind, past games, when we would have remembered being six points up with 10 minutes to go but then blew it.”
Anger at Ireland’s inefficiency aside, without question O’Callaghan rates New Zealand as the best team in the world, and the most ruthless.
“If you make a mistake against other sides they will turn possession over and likely keep the pressure on you for five minutes. If it’s against them they’ll roll under the posts and it’s a seven-pointer, so it’s crucial to play every play with total concentration for the entire 80 minutes.”
However, O’Callaghan dismisses even the slightest of nagging doubts about Ireland’s potential. At 31, he insists his age-group colleagues are not over the hill and that there will be no excess baggage going into the game.
“The younger guys don’t have any fear, and we noticed that about them when they came into the Grand Slam squad — you would swear they were around for 20 years, but while we might be more nervous than the youngsters in the squad, it’s a positive thing.
“Some of them are coming in fresh, they wouldn’t look back at the history of things and the fact that Ireland has never beaten New Zealand. Basically, they figure it (previous games) has nothing to do with them.”
Yet he knows that this one single victory over the All Blacks would do wonders for rugby in Ireland and throughout the world.
“We’ve won Grand Slams and we’ve won Triple Crowns but we (Ireland) have never beaten New Zealand; this would be the one to stand out for any Irish guy, the one that could separate us from all the other guys that have played in our shirt.”
Inspiration could well come from Munster’s midweek victory over Robbie Deans’ Wallabies, even though O’Callaghan hesitated in drawing comparisons.
“Still,” he said, “it was a great performance that gave everyone a bit of a lift. It’s odd, when you watch games like that you realise why you got into playing rugby, it was just all about pride and a bit of passion.
“You definitely feed off it, and I was delighted for everybody back home. It was a great win that provided a big lift. You want to do that.
“We know there are people — Jeez, I feel like I’m turning into Deccie (Declan Kidney) here — at home having a really hard time, I know he goes on about it an awful lot, but at half five on Saturday and then after 80 minutes, we can make things a little bit different and give people a lift.
“That was definitely the case with me on Tuesday night — I was sitting in my room, jumping around the place. It gave me a lift and I’d love to be able to do that Saturday for the Irish people.”
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