Versatile Max Deegan happy to have floating brief with Leinster

The eastern province are gearing up for a knockout clash with old rivals Munster. 

FULL FLIGHT: Max Deegan of Leinster during the URC quarter-final against Cell C Sharks. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Players in all codes have been breaking the chains that shackled them to pre-ordained positions and duties for some years now. Corner-backs kick points in Gaelic football, soccer has trialled everything from overlapping centre-backs to inverted wingers.

Rugby is treating us to playmaking tightheads and more and more utility backs who can shift from midfield to wing and then to full-back in the blink of an eye, but it is in the back row where the original of this versatile species still dominates.

Irish rugby seems to be blessed with them, chameleons who can swap one jersey for the next and blend seamlessly into the collective. Max Deegan is one. Eight seasons and almost a hundred caps into his Leinster career and still spreading his wings.

If he was to be a sole trader in any one field then it would be at No.8 but his start on the blindside against the Sharks last week was a first since before Covid was a thing and there was a spell before that where he played openside three games in a row.

Preferences?

“Realistically, it’s what’s needed. I like both six and eight. I like the lineout aspect of six, the game management and obviously the ball-carrying of the eight and then the defensive pieces align to both. I don’t mind either position.

“So it’s not a case of me needing to narrow down to one. At the moment, I’m a bit newer to six so I’m trying to work out how to make the most impact there. It’s a bit of a different role for me but I like both of them.” 

His heart still lies at No.8. When the younger Deegan thought of the player he wanted to be it was standouts like the All Blacks great Kieran Read and Welsh legend Taulupe Faletau who caught his eye. Both of them made their names at the back of the scrum.

He loved their ability to combine a divine skillset with a brand of abrasiveness. A rare athleticism was another calling card. Fact is that you see more of the ball at No.8 than on the blindside but the latter has its own attractions.

“Lineout is one of my strengths,” Deegan explained. “Look at someone like Peter O’Mahony, that is one of his obvious strengths. It’s one of the reasons he’s got to where he is, along with all his other qualities.

“His lineout work is incredible and it always has been. That’s one reason why he has such an impact on a game, defensively making those big steals.” 

O’Mahony may or may not play against Leinster in this weekend’s URC semi-final after suffering an arm injury in the opening minutes of their win away to Glasgow Warriors last weekend, but Gavin Coombes is set to front up again.

Nobody put in a bigger defensive shift during that quarter-final win in Scotstoun than the 25-year old who has just been named to the URC’s Elite XV team for the season. He has 14 tries in 20 appearances across league and Champions Cup so far this term.

Like Deegan, Coombes is nominally a No.8 who can be redirected to other duties. There have been numerous shifts recorded on the blindside down the years with the province and even a number of appearances, including two starts, in the second row in the recent past.

“He has played well. They look to him a lot in attack. They'll feed him the ball as much as they can because they know he's a really good ball carrier and he is a very good ball carrier. His size and strength, really that's his kind of game.

“He is not the most unbelievably quick but it's unbelievably effective because of how big and strong he is,” Deegan added. “No, he is playing really well at the moment. So you're going to tip the cap to him.” And to Munster.

Deegan described their efforts in South Africa lately, where they rescued their season with a superb win and a draw, as “savage” and he’s expecting a serious tail of traffic up to Dublin for tomorrow’s semi-final.

“Sure it's Munster-Leinster,” said Deegan. “You don't need anything else than that old rivalry to get going.”