Time for Andrew Conway ‘to make things happen’

When it comes to getting an opportunity in an Ireland, Andrew Conway is no different from the rest of Joe Schmidt’s squad in his awareness of the need to grasp it against the USA tonight.

Where Conway is different, perhaps, is his appreciation of how an opponent on the Eagles side at Aviva Stadium this evening strove so hard to make the most of the opportunity he was handed to gain Test recognition.

Munster wing Conway went to school with Wexford-born Eagles hooker Dylan Fawsitt and played on the same Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup-winning team for Blackrock College.

Back then in 2009, Fawsitt was playing in the back-row alongside Jordi Murphy but changing positions is just one of the sacrifices the 28-year-old has had to make, leaving Ireland and moving to the States in 2014 where he converted to the front row and took a variety of jobs to pursue his dream of playing Test rugby.

Conway, 27, is full of admiration for the journey his mate, known as The Butcher, has been on.

“I’ve known him since first year in school,” Conway said. “I tell you one thing about him, I remember I had gear from Irish Under-18s and I was giving it to the lads.

“I went to give it to him or I said ‘here, there’s a bit of gear for you’ and he said ‘no, no, I’ll get my own gear’.

“I said ‘are you sure?’ and he said ‘yeah, yeah, I’ll play international rugby myself’.

“I was like ‘fair play to you’ and then he went about it the right way.

“To be honest, he would have been laughed at by a lot of people who were going ‘you don’t have a chance’ but where there’s a will, there’s a way and he went off and he found an alternate route.”

“Obviously when he was younger he would have dreamed of playing for Ireland but he’s gone off and carved a niche for him and I’m sure the Americans have taken to him with the personality he has.

“He’s not short of confidence and well able for a bit of chat but it’s inspiring stuff to be honest, watching someone go off and chase their dream.

“He hasn’t had it easy over there, he’s working, he’s coaching, he’s doing all sorts, he’s getting buses, subways, buses to training, he’s living far out so I take a great amount of motivation watching someone I grew up with doing something like that.”

Conway has been a squad regular in the Ireland camp for two seasons now but has had to be patient for his nine caps and missing the Six Nations march to the Grand Slam through injury has demanded patience.

A start against Australia in the second Test last June was a reward but having scored an early try in the series-levelling win an injury just 15 minutes in sent Conway to the back of the line once more.

With this opportunity comes pressure to perform and he added: “We are well aware of that. That’s the case with every Ireland international.

“If you haven’t broken into that starting XV and you get a chance in any game, you know that it’s a huge game.

“I probably have a few frustrations over Chicago and Italy that I just didn’t get involved as much as I could have for various reasons.

“But sometimes that happens on the wing where it’s just not coming your way.

“I need to be better at coming off my wing and bossing work and moving lads around and getting my hands on the ball.

“It’s only going to benefit the team, trying to get my hands on the ball and be dangerous.

“There is no point in me standing out there and waiting for something to happen. Sometimes you need to go and make it happen yourself.”