Gibson Park plays big brother to Ireland's rival 10s

Saturday at GAA headquarters looks likely to be the first time Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley compete on opposite sides in the same game and Gibson-Park has been impressed with how the pair have grown as players and leaders.

Leinster players from left, Scott Penny , RG Snyman and Jamison Gibson-Park arrive before a Leinster Rugby squad training session at Rosemount in UCD, Dublin. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

It’s already 11 weeks since the British and Irish Lions wrapped their summer tour with that third Test defeat to the Wallabies in Sydney. Eight of Leinster’s 14-strong contingent haven’t been seen since.

That’s going to change for more than a few of them this Saturday when those fit enough to feature will join the half-dozen already back in action when the province faces Munster at Croke Park in a URC derby.

If this cohort is light on game-time then it’s not like they have been on the lam. Certainly not Jamison Gibson-Park who was thrust straight back into school run duties on his return after his wife Patti had surgery for an ACL injury.

Lucky, then, that the scrum-half had some time and space to decompress in Australia after the Lions tour had come to a close because it was only then that he stopped and realised just how full-on things had been for so long.

“To be fair, it's been one season where I felt like I needed a bit of a rest. Other times I'm probably a little bit naive, but I think I could bounce back in and go again. But this year, I was pretty tired, for whatever reason.

“But we're pretty lucky in this group that there was a number of us there, so we see each other every morning, catch up for coffee, and get a pretty good feel as to how things are going. Obviously, a few lads played out there on the weekend [against Sharks], and were outstanding.” 

If there is strength in those numbers then each of Leinster’s Lions will have their own unique mindsets on reporting back in for club duties. Like Josh van der Flier, who was immense against the Sharks last week having been overlooked for the Lions Test series.

Gibson-Park, by way of contrast, started all three.

The Kiwi-born nine will be 35 by the time the next major peak comes around in the form of another crack at a Rugby World Cup. That will involve another long stint in Australia for those involved and the man himself admits that he keeps one eye on these imposing summits.

“Yeah, I suppose we're all different but certainly, for me, I like to have something to chase down. Around the Lions there was always a lot of chat probably two years out and I suppose the World Cup will be no different.

“But we're pretty lucky to have some pretty good things to get after along the way: Munster here, which is a massive rivalry, into New Zealand, who we always love to play, and then a Six Nations around the corner as well. So there's lots to get after in the meantime.” 

There really isn’t much time to be looking all that far ahead.

Andy Farrell, fresh from his successful stint coaching the Lions, has already named his Ireland squad for that meeting with the All Blacks and the rest of the November series. Gibson-Park and the rest will be swapping blue for green as early as next week.

He remains an utterly pivotal presence in this national collective, his playmaking role on the park linking in with his older brother role regardless of whether it is Sam Prendergast or Jack Crowley alongside him at No.10.

Saturday at GAA headquarters looks likely to be the first time the two tens compete on opposite sides in the same game and Gibson-Park has been impressed with how the pair have grown as players and leaders while dealing with all the outside noise.

“Yeah, it's, I've been really impressed with both of them really into how they've taken to international footy. I mean the reality is they're in the toughest position on the team. They have to do the marshaling, they have to run a week, all these kinds of things, which for young fellas can be pretty daunting at times, but they've taken sto it pretty well.

“They've both kind of learned things over the last couple of years that hopefully they can implement, but [the attention] is just the reality of the position they're in, and coming after Johnny Sexton, which is not an easy thing to do. That's always been the way down the years with Irish rugby and O’Gara and Sexto.

“These types of lads have been unbelievable. So no doubt they have plenty of learnings, but, from my perspective, I've been pretty impressed by how they've taken to it. There's always going to be media scrutiny, all these kinds of things coming at them. But for young lads, they've handled it really well.”