Jeremy Loughman moving in the right direction as Ireland debut beckons

Loughman came up through Ard Scoil na Tríonóide and Athy RFC, with Joey Carbery, before finishing his schooling on the Rock Road and his willingness to test new ground extended to his professional ambitions when he swapped Dublin for Limerick.

Thu, 10 Nov, 2022 - 07:47

Brendan O'Brien

Reno, Nevada to Sevenoaks, Kent. Athy RFC followed by Blackrock College. Leinster then Munster. Jeremy Loughman’s route to what he hopes will be a first Ireland senior cap this week has been more interesting than most.

The Munster prop was born in the States and lived there for four years before his father’s work as an engineer in the oil and gas sector took the family to the UK. Eight years in England’s southeast and it was off again, this time to Kildare.

His parents, David and Katja, moved back Stateside a few years ago and he has one brother in Colorado, another in California and a sister in London.

Him? Ireland suits him just fine and that extends to his decision to ignore Test overtures from the US Eagles.

“A couple of times,” he explained, “they asked to see what kind of interest I had. Things were going well with Munster. The last two years I was getting more confident, felt that I was pushing myself into the team.

“I could see that if I could really push myself (with Munster), then there was a chance here, so I would just stick to my guns. Living here, playing rugby here, being here pretty much my whole life, I was like, ‘I want to play with Ireland’. That was my goal.”

He doesn’t doubt that this peripatetic background has stood to him.

“When you’re young it is very hard, a big shock. You get used to somewhere and you make friends, then you move again. After a couple of those it was a skill I developed where I could just drop myself in and just learn to be myself, just get on with people.

“I think I’m very open, easy to get on with, which helps. It’s a case of just trying to get stuck in the middle of it straight away. That’s something that I have done well in all those environments.”

It’s easy to see why those social skills would prove beneficial in an environment like Ireland’s where the onus is on players hitting the ground running in camp and working in a squad that is a hive of moving parts but patience helps too.

He felt primed for takeoff on leaving school, and when he played U20s for Ireland, but then came a roll call of injuries, the switch of provinces and an extended period of time where he was more often than not being called to arms off the bench with Munster.

More frustration followed this summer when his tour to New Zealand was effectively scuppered within two minutes of the opener against the Maoris due to a concussion that, after an initial HIA, belatedly saw him stood down at half-time.

His next opportunity to impress Andy Farrell and his staff didn’t go according to plan either, with Ireland ‘A’ losing 47-19 to a far superior All Black XV at the RDS last Friday, but all that work and focus will pay off against Fiji with a Test debut this weekend.

“It would mean everything,” he admitted.

“I have been pushing to get that for me and my family. I just think it would be incredible. Get that and keep pushing on to not make it a one-cap thing as well.

“I don’t want it to be one cap, I want it to be a stepping-stone and to keep pushing on.”