Andrew Conway finally finds his niche after stalls

Andrew Conway. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

Joe Schmidt made it his mission to widen the pool of players available to Ireland after the side’s World Cup quarter-final exit to Argentina in 2019. The Kiwi took calculated risks with team selections with an eye on last year’s tournament in Japan but, when push came to shove, there was a reliance on the familiar over form.

John Cooney didn’t even make the plane to the Far East despite being the country’s best scrum-half at the time. Guys like Jordan Larmour, Chris Farrell, and Dave Kilcoyne had to sit and stew on the sidelines when the momentum should have been theirs. Another among that cohort was Andrew Conway.

A teenage wunderkind, Conway’s career stalled at Leinster. It took him time to generate speed on his switch to Munster and his Ireland debut only arrived in 2017 at the age of 26. Late up on the rails, he came home from Japan as his country’s top try scorer across the five games and yet he was stood down for the meetings with Japan and New Zealand.

A year on and he has fastened a tighter pocket for himself in the starting side. On the wing for all three of Ireland’s Six Nations fixtures back in the spring, he starts again today against Italy at the Aviva Stadium and he was asked if there was a sense that form may be forming a larger slice of the pie these days.

“Perception is what we are dealing with really in that question, but, yeah, (it is) likely. The lads in previous times had done a body of work under Joe. He was really confident in them and you can’t really blame him for that either. A lot of those senior guys have produced at the most important times over the last five or six years for Irish rugby.

“So, it was understandable why they had a bit more money in the bank, but I suppose to drive competition, I for one, definitely don’t want to feel comfortable in a starting position at any level, whether that is national or provincial,” said Conway whose debut came off the bench against England three years ago. 

You want someone breathing down your neck.” 

Andy Farrell feels the same.

Jonathan Sexton revealed last Tuesday that the players still hadn’t been told the team for today’s fixture when he spoke to the media and the Ireland head coach explained his reasoning for delaying that process until the following morning after he announced the matchday 23.

Farrell touched on the need to be adaptable on the field and how they put different combinations together in training to challenge the players in just that way while, at the same time, lay some foundations for possible line-ups further down the road. It’s only natural that such an approach would serve to keep players on their toes.

Conway, for one, was all too aware of the slight tweaks in the manner in which training has been reviewed as well. Something they classify as “effort-based codings” are being used to get a measure on where players are with their fitness and how sharp they are. It’s a change from previous years when his perception was that it would take an injury for him to make the team regardless.

Again, he stresses, that may just be his perception of how it was.

What is clear is that there is no sense of him having ‘made it’. Conway may be more comfortable in his skin in national camp now but any complacency has been left at the door after a run of games with Munster where he hasn’t been active enough for his liking, even if poor conditions and poorer game flow have contributed to that.

Today brings with it just his 22nd cap for Ireland but he bears a sort of senior status in the back three given Hugo Keenan makes his debut on the far wing and Jacob Stockdale, while appearing in green for a 29th time, will do so for the first time at full-back now that Rob Kearney has moved offshore and Larmour is injured.

Conway takes the point but adds that Stockdale and himself have played together plenty of times while that the Ulsterman and Keenan were part of the same U20s side. Excuses, basically, are not an option, even if it is 10 months since the side played its last game prior to shutdown, when they were outclassed by England in Twickenham.

The first lockdown did at least give Farrell and his staff plenty of scope to learn from that defeat and their opening championship wins against Wales and Scotland. Conway had one good 30-40 minute chat with attack coach Mike Catt whose imprint will be examined in minute detail by the time this forthcoming glut of international games ends in December.

One of the catchphrases emanating from camp this week has been ‘heads-up rugby’. Farrell stuck a pin in the phrase ‘off the cuff’ when that was presented to him on Wednesday but there has long been a sense that Ireland needed to add a more organic brush to their hugely effective paint-by-numbers setpiece attacking structure.

Keenan has been electric for Leinster this season, Stockdale brings 16 tries and that renowned attacking threat and an enormous left boot to the No.15 jersey and there is still the sense with Conway that, even with a ratio of one try in every two games to date, he is still only picking up pace as a test player.

A versatile talent who has offered club and country an option at full-back in the past, it’s over 30 months since he wore a starter’s jersey other than the 14 for either. Even his last game on the left-wing was six years ago and he wasn’t even one of those asked to run at 15 this week as Farrell went through the CVs of those in line to keep the house safe at the back.

“It’s not something that I actively go and seek feedback on because I am quite happy on the wing and I suppose the more consistency you get in a particular position the likelier it is for you to perform and grow into that role. So, it is definitely something I am confident I could do if asked. At this point, I haven’t been asked to do it.”

That suits him fine.