'It was a bit of a shock': Thomas Clarkson blocks out social media backlash after Lions come calling
Six months ago, Thomas Clarkson had been an uncapped Ireland training panelist. Now, he has eight Ireland caps and came off the bench for the Lions on Tuesday. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
It is an indictment of social media and society in general that Thomas Clarkson’s first act as a British & Irish Lion was to disconnect from it.
For many of those who can remember the pre-internet age, the idea of withdrawing from the online world would be some kind of nirvana but if you are 24-years-old and that is the only life you have known then it is a different decision to have to make.
Such is the life of a professional athlete, whose career-transforming moment at being called up to the Lions tour in Australia was accompanied by the trolling of disgruntled online users upset by the selection ahead of whoever they believed was more suited for the role.
On Tuesday at Marvel Stadium, as Clarkson replaced fellow Irishman Finlay Bealham on 50 minutes to become British & Irish Lion number 886, the tighthead prop justified his selection as a squad member head coach Andy Farrell insisted was “100% the next cab on the rank” to join an elite band of 2025 tourists.
“If anyone’s seen how he’s performed over the last six months, they’ll see why,” the Lions boss said of Clarkson.
Eight Ireland caps, four of them in this season’s Six Nations, including a start against Wales in a Triple Crown-sealing victory is why, with Clarkson having further enhanced his reputation, on home soil at least, with ownership of Leinster’s number three jersey in all three of his province’s URC knockout games in their run to the title.
The evidence was not enough to stop the online naysayers, although Clarkson did not allow himself to be sucked in.
“I tried to stay away from it, to be honest,” he said.
“I feel like the last few weeks in Leinster, before the semi-final, was fairly negative. I think just kind of trying to use that as a bit of motivation. I knew, just because Jamie (Osborne) got called in right before me, there was a bit of backlash to that.
“I knew it was going to be even more when I got the nod. So yeah, I just tried to stay away from it.
“Yeah, it was a bit of a shock at the start, to be honest. Obviously, like, you grow up using social media. So it was hard to step away from it. But I just had to get rid of a lot of that. I just use Instagram now.”
Six months ago, Clarkson had been an uncapped Ireland training panelist, invited into camp by Farrell ahead of an Autumn Nations Series last November that saw him earn his Test debut off the bench at Aviva Stadium against Argentina. The British & Irish Lions were not remotely on his radar.
“Not a hope. I only went in as a training panelist in November. I wasn't even really expecting to play in that. So to get a cap I was delighted.
“The Six Nations, I was happy enough with how it went, I wouldn't have said I set the world alight or anything. To then play well for Leinster at the end of the season and come in here, it’s pretty mad.
“Crazy. Pretty unbelievable stuff. But I'm happy. Probably, I benefited from Tadhg (Furlong) being injured at the end of the season, definitely benefited from that.
“But I'd like to think I took the opportunity.”
With Furlong and Bealham away on tour with the Lions, Clarkson believed his big opportunity was coming in Ireland’s summer matches in Georgia and Portugal, both of which he started, scoring his maiden Test try in the 106-7 rout of the Portuguese on July 12. Then came the text from Farrell and a nudge from interim head coach Paul O’Connell.
“I found out three o'clock in the morning after the Portugal game. We were on a night out, I had to go home straight away. But yeah, some text to get.
“It was like: ‘ring me when you’re awake’, so I said ‘oh yeah, grand’. Then Paulie rang me and was like, ‘ring him right now’. So yeah, I had to just compose myself and go outside.
“I told Jack Boyle and then just legged it.”
Eleven days later and Clarkson is a Lion, coming on against the First Nations & Pasifika XV in Melbourne and just about coming out on the right side of a 24-19 victory in the final midweek game of the tour.
“It was good,” he said, “I felt like I was chasing my tail a little bit. But happy enough with the scrum and I made a few tackles. It was a good start.
“It's a fairly similar system to Leinster in Ireland, so it was just getting a handle on what the actual names were. But in terms of what I'm doing, I'm pretty used to it.
“I felt bad for the Scottish fellas coming in. They only got in on Sunday night, thrown in, having never played that way before. I was in a better place than them.”
Likely to be one and done with the Lions with only the second and third Tests against Australia to come on tour, Clarkson could well find himself on a plane home before the week is out alongside the Scottish quartet Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Gregor Brown and Darcy Graham, their roles fulfilled after taking the pressure off the likely Test starters. His long season at an end and he is honest enough to be not thinking about the next campaign just yet.
“To be honest, I'm kind of excited for the break more than... Once the break's done, then I'll start thinking about cracking on. Obviously, Tadhg and Finlay are about here, so I'm not going to be guaranteed you go back and play, even with Ireland.
“Just looking forward to the challenge of cracking into it.”
He has allowed himself to think about a return to Australia, however, with Ireland set to return for the 2027 World Cup here.
“Definitely. I'll go back, try and break into Ireland properly, consistently in the 23 and go from there. But like I said, it's going to be a massive challenge. I'm not just going to walk back in.
“It's going to be the two lads who are there. I need to get in the mix with them.”
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