Sense of FOMO for Nash but Munster winger able to see the bigger picture ahead of Castres

HUNGRY FOR MORE: Munster winger Calvin Nash during squad training ahead of the Champions Cup clash with French outfit Castres. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

There are times when it seems the rugby gods are just not on your side and for Calvin Nash that appears, to him at least, to be the case right now.

After a frustrating Autumn Nations Series in which the Munster wing did his best to stay positive as an unused player across Ireland’s four November Tests, Nash returned home to Limerick with energy to spare, only for the Champions Cup pool opening bonus-point victory over Stade Francais to be played out tantalisingly out of reach.

Nash is understandably keen to make amends in France this Friday night when Munster visit Castres looking to make it back-to-back European victories in rounds one and two for the first time since December 2021.

“I don’t know if I was just running around like an idiot or what but I was doing a lot of running,” Nash said of his return to provincial colours at Thomond Park last Saturday.

“I suppose in games like that when you have a bonus point and stuff like that you want to be on the scoresheet, you want to be doing unreal things but sometimes that just doesn’t come to you.

“You have to do your job but hopefully more touches this weekend if I get picked.” 

You can see his point. Of Munster’s five tries against a disappointing and ill-disciplined Stade side, three were scored by outside backs, fellow wing Thaakir Abrahams, full-back Shane Daly and outside centre Tom Farrell. 

No wonder there was a real sense of FOMO for Munster’s reigning player of the year as he got his first game time since October 26, a try-scoring effort in the URC defeat at the Sharks, yet Nash was able to see the bigger picture.

“I would have liked to have got on the ball more personally but as a team for the first hour we were very good I thought. We were stressing them a lot and there was definitely a good buzz going, I feel like Thomond Park really got behind us, it felt like that on the pitch, to be honest.

“Then it was frustrating that we started leaving them into the game even though they had two red cards. We kind of lost the run of ourselves, I feel like, a tiny bit. Yeah we went away from the way we were playing and gave them more energy to get back in the game.

“Then that soft try they got, off the front of the lineout, that was frustrating but to be honest we can’t really complain too much. We got a bonus-point win in the first round of Europe so an unreal game for us.” 

Making the best of it has been the wing’s modus operandi for the past five weeks or so. 

He went into Ireland camp having started all seven Tests in the calendar year to date and off the back of what he felt was a strong performance against the Sharks, only to be overlooked as Mack Hansen returned from long-term injury to reclaim the green number 14 jersey for all four Autumn Nations Series Tests at Aviva Stadium.

“It was obviously tough but I tried to take the good with the bad. If I got stuck down on selection all the time I’m going to affect the lads on the team as well and probably it won’t be a great atmosphere or attitude around training.

“So I tried to take some positives out of it, like rarely you’d get to train against such high quality internationals and training’s always a quicker pace than a game so I thought if I can focus on training at such a quick pace then hopefully when I come back into Munster or if I get a game, I’ll be ready to go and I’ll be sharp.

“So I just tried to focus on that and I still have a lot I’d like to improve in my game so there were areas I was trying to focus on in training and get better in training and try to bring back into Munster and practice that here. So just take as many positives as I can, I suppose.

“Look, I’m not saying it was easy when I wasn’t playing for Ireland. It was obviously tough but I knew Mack coming back, he’s an unbelievable player and he’s been class for Ireland as well.

“So I knew coming back it was going to be tough, there was going to be competition and competition is only good for the team. Yeah, I did catch myself one or two times, like in a rut after selection but I think that’s only natural and you’ve just got to kick on and do what’s best for the team.” 

The frustration at seeing little of the ball as his backline colleagues made hay against Stade came from Nash not being able to adequately showcase his talents in Munster red, but he admitted: “I think at the start of the URC campaign that’s probably what I fell into the trap of, of trying to be the standout of every second of the game and putting too much pressure on myself. That’s what I felt in the first few games.

“I started to relax then towards the Sharks game and felt like I had a great game against the Sharks so that’s probably something I need to do, just stop putting so much pressure on myself and just back myself.

“I do put pressure on myself because I just want to get better all the time and be better all the time. I don’t want people to catch up to me or pass me out so I try to put pressure on myself to be better as much as I can, sometimes maybe too much. I think it’s good for me, still, I probably just need to catch myself sometimes.” 

When he does find that balance, Nash can find himself in full flow on the pitch, to Munster and Ireland’s benefit.

“I think it’s just being in the game rather than almost commentating and putting pressure on yourself to get touches and stuff, it’s just playing what’s there. That’s the main thing.”