Stringer still proving people wrong
He has won two Heineken Cups, three domestic titles and 98 caps for Ireland, but that’s not enough.
At the age of 36 his career could be winding down, a comfortable chair and a lifetime of punditry gigs awaiting him, but still he puts himself through the mill, week after week.
His colleagues from that great Munster team are scattered far and wide now; Ronan O’Gara coaching in Paris, Jerry Flannery training to become a strength and conditioning coach with Arsenal in London, and Anthony Foley readying himself to become Munster’s next Head Coach.
But Stringer is thinking about extra kicking practice, and guiding Bath to what would be a unique Aviva Premiership-Amlin Challenge Cup double.
The scrum-half has always proven people wrong, and he shows no sign of stopping now. For his next trick he wants a return to the Ireland team some three years after his international career appeared over.
He believes he has already shown Munster – and in particular Rob Penney – that they made a mistake in getting rid of him last year and bringing down the curtain on what had been an illustrious career with the province in rather ignominious fashion.
He could, he says, have stayed with the province and picked up a pay cheque each month without ever being part of a matchday squad. Instead, he has a new home and new ambitions, with Wasps – Bath’s Amlin semi-final opponents this weekend – his focus rather than a certain game in Marseille on Sunday.
But he looks at this Munster side and sees similarities with the 2006 and 2008 vintage; the leaders, the cussed refusal to give in and the desire to, as ever, prove people wrong.
“I have no doubts Munster can do it,” says Stringer as he looks forward to what could be an epic Heineken Cup semi-final against reigning champions Toulon. “It is building up to be one of those special days once again. There are many days when we have been written off, and I will always remember that semi-final against Toulouse back in 2000 (which Munster won 31-25).
“People didn’t give us a chance to win that game but it is a special competition that brings out the best in the guys. This is why we play the game.
“The challenge has been that after the likes of David Wallace and John Hayes finished, you take that core out of the squad — and do you have the guys coming through? “They have the likes of Paulie (O’Connell) and Donncha (O’Callaghan) who can filter their experiences down to those guys, and that is really important.
“Now you see that in Peter O’Mahony, JJ Hanrahan and Stephen Archer – these guys are the ones that have to step up to the plate and take this team to the next stage. They have to be the leaders and the strong characters that will be vital going forwards.”
Of course, Toulon do not struggle for leaders. Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Giteau, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe are not the types who will take a backwards step in the heat of battle. But still, Stringer believes Munster have every chance.
“I think it will be key in the back row and 10, 12, 13 – if Munster get that gainline they will certainly be in with a shout.” But Stringer will only be satisfied if he has reached another European final himself. He knows he will always be remembered for that try against Biarritz in the 2006 Heineken Cup final but he genuinely believes he and Bath are on the verge of something special.
Key to that will be the half-back combination between Stringer and George Ford – a pair who first met when Stringer babysat the youngster over a decade ago.
“One day back in the early 2000s when Mike Ford (George’s dad and now Bath’s Head Coach) was Ireland’s defence coach he asked me if I could take his young lads out of his hair for a while,” recalls Stringer.
“So I took George to the local petrol station for an ice-cream. He was always with us on the pitch, collecting the balls, and it’s great to see him come through now. It’s funny how things turn out.”
Yet it seems slightly incongruous to see Stringer in Bath’s white and blue colours after a career spent entirely in red. It may not have been entirely of his choosing, but Stringer seems content in Bath – a rugby-mad town which stirs memories of home.
“I didn’t want to finish my career at home based on a certain coach’s decision not to pick me,” he says. “For me personally it was definitely the right decision.
“You never want to finish based on someone else’s decision, you want to call it quits when the time is right for you.
“I’d love to stay in the game after I have finished playing but I hope to have a few more years yet.”
But could that be at Munster? Rather as the Class of 92 are gearing up for a takeover at Old Trafford, so Munster’s golden generation are waiting in the wings.
O’Gara is learning his trade at Racing Metro – ‘no doubt he will want to come back at some stage to be involved with Munster’, says Stringer, and Foley is already president-elect.
Stringer and Foley spent a decade together fighting for the Munster cause, and the former says he always knew the latter would become a coach.
“Off the pitch Axel was always coming up with new ideas, new moves and suggestions of how the team should play,” he recalls.
“Clearly from an early stage he was a coach in the making. From the moment he retired as a player and stepped into the Munster coaching setup he has served his time as an apprentice under some good coaches an taken things from them.
“I am sure he will do really well. He is an ambitious local Munster man who is really passionate about the place.
But that is for next season, and first is the potential of a Bath-Munster European double – ‘that would be amazing,’ laughs Stringer.
“The reason we play the game is to win,” he says.
“It doesn’t happen that often. I have been part of great teams over the years that have left a lot of trophies behind, but those that you do win you cherish, and then try to replicate.
That rather sums Stringer up. He loves the victories, but always wants more. That is why he is at Bath, and why easy street is anathema to him. Munster will need some of that warrior spirit on Sunday.
Peter Stringer has set his sights on an Ireland recall at the age of 36 and believes he can still reach a century of appearances for his country.
The scrum-half won the last of his 98 caps over three years ago, with Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss all used in the recent Six Nations. But former Munster stalwart Stringer is enjoying a new lease of life at English side Bath and believes he has every chance of forcing Joe Schmidt into giving him another chance at international level.
“If an opportunity came round to play for Ireland again I know I will be prepared and ready for it,” said Stringer
“It may never happen but I know that if I don’t strive and push for it then I know it won’t happen. If selection goes well here [at Bath] and things go well for the team who knows what can happen. I would never forgive myself if I didn’t give it everything and that is just the way I have been all my life.
“I won’t be content with just playing regularly here and not being ready for the next step. People always talk about reaching 100 caps. It would be a massive, massive achievement and something I would love.
“You see it [100 caps] as being two games away from where I am, but I don’t want it to be two games – I want to be in a position where I am pushing for 101, 102, 103.”
But Stringer admits he has no contact with Schmidt and acknowledges playing outside of Ireland makes a recall less likely.
“I haven’t [spoken with Schmidt]. I suppose that’s the thing when you’re over in the UK, they tend to select players they have access to in Ireland. You can appreciate that. Obviously they’re building something very exciting over there.”
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