Tomas Quinlan grasps opportunity after answering Ireland’s call

Tomas Quinlan was out with his girlfriend last Wednesday when the call came; within a day he was in the air heading for Italy and the World Rugby U20 Championships, and within a week he was floating on cloud nine.

Unknown one week, his name was all over Irish and Argentina rugby the following week.

What has happened to Quinlan in the past week should probably be noted by coaches and players across all sports. He didn’t make the cut for the Irish squad and looked set to miss out on an U20 cap, having not featured in the Six Nations either.

The Cork Con man went on a pre-tour trip and played against France and did enough to be put on a standby list. In place-kicking terms he was at least the fourth choice in that enlarged squad but when the moment came in the final play on Tuesday night in Parma, he was the one holding the ball and taking a good long look at the posts.

His Irish debut at U20 level — he played with the 19s last year — was only three minutes old but already by then he had made an impact ... the wrong sort.

He was the one pinged for offiside for the penalty which edged Argentina 16-15 in front and they were ready to celebrate their third win in four meetings at this grade.

Quinlan, a former Christians schoolboy, had other ideas. Only one thing was on his mind as he headed for the right touchline to prepare for the kick that was 25 metres from the end-line. No pressure then.

“You stick to your routine and just go through the paces and keep the head and trust yourself. That’s what I kept saying to myself, stick to your routine.

“Just before that I gave away a penalty so I felt like I had to do something. I only had a short period of time to get the team back into the game. I got an opportunity and I was lucky enough to put it over.”

But, to his horror, he thought he had missed it. “I didn’t think it would go over because usually they go more straight as opposed to coming in.

“When I saw it go out my heart kind of dropped, then it came back in and I saw it go over and I just put my head down and ran back. It was just the relief more than anything, get the win for the boys and for myself, yeah I am delighted.”

By the time he came in from the field, mobbed by teammates and dripping in sweat from the scorching afternoon, Ronan O’Gara had already hit Twitter admiring the ability of a fellow Con man. Could this week get any more surreal? “It’s weird to hear things like that now, that such superstars like himself are tweeting about it. You get a chance and you have to take it.” And take it he did.

Yesterday, Irish coach Nigel Carolan confirmed that loosehead prop Jeremy Loughman was out of the tournament with a broken nose suffered just seven minutes after the championship kicked off in Parma.

The UCD and Leinster clubman will head home. Liam O’Connor will take his place. He too, like Quinlan, is from Cork Con, is uncapped, is in the Munster academy and played in the recent game against France. Terrible to lose a player after just seven minutes, but the omens are good for the replacement.