Tomás O’Leary loving his London calling
Things are on an upward curve. His second season at Irish has started well: he is recently engaged, has taken to London, assumed the captaincy in the absence of Declan Danaher and George Skivington and is injury-free.
The Exiles are two from two in the Amlin Challenge Cup, with a double-header against Stade Francais to come, and Brian Smith’s attacking rugby style is evolving rapidly with a steady start to the Premiership.
Certainly the mood is brighter than this week last year when O’Leary’s season was prematurely ended. Having firmly established himself as first-choice scrum-half, he was taken out of the game against Harlequins with a back injury. Surgery followed in early December and with that went his hopes of playing again for the season.
Naturally, there were moments when he found himself frustrated, but his perseverance is now being rewarded.
Having spent the first 28 years of his life in Cork, his transition to the all-consuming megatropolis has been seamless. Six times in the space of a minute he says “I love it” when talking about life in London. Although it appeared for a while that Perpignan and France would be the likeliest destination.
“ Born and bred in Cork, I needed a change and fancied something different,” he says.
The Exiles had perhaps lost some of their ‘Irishness’ when Smith left to take a coaching role with England in 2008 but after returning in 2012, the former fly-half, remedied the identity crisis.
Although O’Leary and his half-back partner Ian Humphreys arrived last year, the addition of Eamonn Sheridan and Jamie Hagan boosted the quota and increased the positivity at the club.
“You can see the identity is shifting that way with the lads that have come in. Hopefully we can get one or two more over to add to that,” he says.
“Even if you go into the office here, there are plenty of Irish accents and if you come here on a Saturday and Sunday, you see all the amateur Irish players. The club probably gets a hard time about being a Plastic Paddy club but if you see this place at the weekend it is real Irish, you can’t deny that.”
Munster had made no secret they wanted him to stay with the offer of a new contract on the table, but with Conor Murray’s grasp on the nine shirt becoming firmer, and a desire to experience life away from his hometown, O’Leary felt the time to move was right.
“It got to the stage where I wanted a change. I needed it. There’s a good buzz playing in the Premiership. The relegation threat is a big difference. You will see teams battling relegation playing with a much higher intensity compared to teams at the bottom of the Rabo.
“It is really even too. Leicester and Northampton are consistently strong but there is a middle tier that is really strong and they are all capable of turning each other over. Going to places like Bath, Leicester on a weekly basis is good fun.”
A return to the international side doesn’t seem an entirely ridiculous proposition if he stays fit either. After all, Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss, included in Joe Schmidt’s squad for November’s Test series, turn 33 and 34 respectively in the coming months.
While O’Leary insists his sole focus is on staying fit and producing the goods for his club, he can’t help but admit the thoughts of a return remain implanted in the back of his head.
“The new coaching set-up will be good for the lads but I think I’m a bit off it at the moment,” he says. “To be honest I’m just happy I’m fit and healthy here. At the same time, you never know, if I can get a run of games something might happen but it really isn’t on my radar at the moment. It would be brilliant, I would consider it as an unbelievable bonus. It’s not my priority but we will see what happens.”
In some ways, playing abroad might be construed as a hindrance to his chances. But with Jonny Sexton earning mega-bucks in France and Paul O’Connell admitting his regret at not giving it a go elsewhere, O’Leary feels a point has been reached where opportunities to play abroad are more attractive than ever.
“I’ve really enjoyed the experience but obviously it depends on where individual lads are in their careers, where they stand with their province. It’s hard to throw a generalisation out that a player should go to France or England but I would 100% encourage them.”
Although he hopes to have four or five years left on the pitch, he is also aware of the long game and asserts planning for post-rugby was animportant factor in his decision to go to a city like London which has many more job opportunities than the current Irish climate.
“Hopefully coming to London has built up a network for me. I’ve done it, I’m happy that I have and have no regrets. If I was talking to someone considering it, I would say ‘go’.
“Look at France after Jonny’s move. It’s a big world, you have a limited time to make the most of your career. You have maybe 10 or 12 years, less if you’re unlucky.”
So does that mean staying in London when it is time to hang up the boots? “I won’t be rushing back anyway. I’ll probably move back to Cork at some stage but I’m happy here and obviously a lot depends on career situations.”
Tomás O’Leary believes Irish provinces must be involved in a wider European competition, whether it is under the control of the ERC or not, if they are to maintain elite standards.
Having announced their intention to withdraw from the Heineken and Amlin Cups at the end of this season, English and French clubs are expected to reveal details of a new tournament, the Rugby Champions Cup, next month.
And O’Leary says that if the four provinces were not involved in a competition which extends beyond the Celtic nations and Italy, they could suffer — with knock-on effects for the national team too.
“I don’t know what to make of the politics behind it but it would be pivotal for the Irish teams in particular to be involved because they rely on having a European Cup.
“I’m sure whoever is in charge will sort something out but Europe is the big highlight for players. I would even say it is particularly important for not just the Irish teams but the national team too.”
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