Ross Molony determined to take belated chance after Ireland call

Ross Molony: Ireland call is a huge lift.  Picture: Ryan Byrne

It’s not that Ross Molony feels the need to make up for lost time, but the Leinster lock knows that he can’t ease his way into his Ireland duties now that he has finally managed to wedge a foot inside the door of the senior camp.

He’s 27 now, not old for a second row, but not exactly young for a man looking to take his first baby steps on the Test stage as Andy Farrell’s unfamiliar gathering of players brace for engagements with Japan, this Saturday, and the USA to follow.

Of the 11 uncapped players drafted in for this summer’s business, only Caolin Blade is older (and only by a matter of weeks at that) and only the Connacht scrum-half has appeared more times for his province than the St Michael’s graduate.

“I think you hit the nail on the head there. It’s probably a different story for some of the young lads coming in for the first time, I’m not entirely sure but I’m probably one of the oldest who is uncapped who is coming in and I can’t be sitting around waiting for something to happen.

“I probably have to take a hold of it myself and there’s a bit more responsibility at this age. I’m still young obviously but at this stage of my career, given the amount of game time I’ve had with Leinster and the way this season has gone, I have to step up and I have to kind of show what my point of difference is.”

Success is all the sweeter the longer it is in coming about, of course, and if Molony manages to bag some game time this next few weeks, then he will be joining a select crew and following in his grandfather’s footsteps.

Jack Molony was 25 when he made his debut for Ireland against Scotland in 1950, playing his part in a 21-0 defeat of the Scots and alongside men like Jack Kyle, Tom Clifford and Karl Mullan, but that would prove to be his only appearance in green.

That his grandson has navigated his way to the brink of a cap is an achievement in itself given the competition for places at Leinster and in the national setup. There were times in the last number of years where he could have chosen a different path.

Leinster have waved plenty of players off to foreign fields when the competition for places restricted game time. Others have decamped for digs in Belfast, Limerick and Galway. Molony has not always been first-choice but he has stayed the course.

“Over the last few years we’ve definitely had these talks before, and I was always asked where I’d see myself in the future — where I see myself with Leinster — and in terms of this season I’ve really enjoyed it as well as I can with the lack of fans and the climate, the way it is.

“But I’m really enjoying my rugby at the moment and it was a huge lift towards the end of the season (to be called up). I suppose you could argue that blokes are fatiguing after such a long season and this really picked the spirits up. As I said before, huge excitement.

“And now, as I said before, I have the foot in the door and it’s about staying there. It’s about pushing on. I’m proud I’ve made it into the squad and now it’s about pushing on and getting that first cap, and then pushing on from that.”

His chances of getting the nod will be affected one way or another by the fitness or otherwise of James Ryan. His Leinster teammate and second row colleague has an adductor muscle injury and it remains to be seen if he is fit to face Japan.