Conway takes new route after being caught in Leinster bottleneck

The vast reservoir of talent available in Leinster has prompted several of their brightest young stars to broaden their horizons in the quest for first team rugby.

And Munster have benefited handsomely with Ian Keatley and Niall Ronan just two who have made the transition seamlessly. They have now been joined by potentially the most exciting talent of all, Andrew Conway, who regularly captured the headlines during his schooldays at Blackrock College and who seemed destined for a career at the very highest level.

Unfortunately for him, he arrived in the Leinster squad three years ago at a time when he found his way blocked by a whole host of outstanding players like Rob Kearney, Isa Nacewa, Luke Fitzgerald and several others.

It cannot have been easy to leave the Leinster scene, but Conway took a close look at what was happening in Munster under the Rob Penney and Simon Mannix regime and liked what he saw.

“I was down here a few years ago to meet Ian Sherwin and talk about coming to the academy, but decided to start with Leinster,” he said.

“I got the opportunity to speak with Rob and Simon last season and decided it was a good place for me to come and try and hone my skills with a team like Munster that would be a big honour for me to play with.

“It’s like anything, coming into a new place, you’re always nervous, like your first day at school sort of thing, but everyone from the coaches to the staff to the players have been brilliant and I got into it quite quickly.

“It wasn’t a case of Leinster letting me go. Believe it or not, I wasn’t contracted to Leinster as everyone seemed to think at the time. It was my own decision, I thought about it long hard and it was tough and I’m delighted with my decision.

“I wanted to experience something new, that I had come to a standstill in Leinster, I was getting plenty of game time but I wouldn’t be making the 23 for the big games if everyone was available.

Conway acknowledges he faces a stiff test in clinching a place in the Munster side on the big occasions too, but he is well up for the challenge.

“I can’t wait to pull on the red jersey,” he declared. “Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity of running out here at the weekend after five or six weeks of training. I’ve heard all about Thomond Park on Heineken Cup day but first and foremost I want to be training hard and then hopefully those big games will come.

“For now, it’s a case of showing the lads and the coaches what I can do and hopefully those big games will come.”