Rónan Kelleher holds hunger to perform - Japan are next up

SCORE ROAR: Ireland hooker Rónan Kelleher enjoying Ireland's decisive fifth try in their Nations Championship Round One win over Australia at Allianz Stadium in Sydney. Pic: Steve Christo/Sportsfile

A tick over six years ago Andy Farrell gave Rónan Kelleher his first cap. Now, the Irish hooker will bring up his 50th on Saturday after being selected to start against Japan in Newcastle in their second Nations Championship fixture.

It’s a fact even Farrell is surprised by.

“Wow. I forgot about that,” the Irish coach said from Newcastle.

“I fast-forward from where he was then and how he started his career. He definitely burst onto the scene. We say that about a lot of players, but he definitely did that.

“Obviously the competition that he has over the years has been great for us all to watch but to get to where we are now and I see a hungry man, ready to perform.

“I thought he was excellent when he came on last week. He was physical, he was dynamic, he wanted to add to the team so he thoroughly deserves his start and it’s very fitting that it’s his 50th cap.”

In many ways, Kelleher is a man of few words. Instead, he prefers to let his actions do the talking.

That’s not to say he doesn’t string sentences together, but he’s not one to overstate something either.

Rather than rattling on about every second of his debut against Scotland in 2020, he quickly recalls that he wasn’t the only one debuting that Saturday in early February, when Ireland won 19-12 in a tight tussle at home.

“I remember we were told on the Wednesday before the match. We were told (the team), we went out on the train and then flew straight away,” Kelleher recalls.

“I remember it was only announced while we were flying. As soon as we landed, I got a lot of texts from friends and family just congratulating me. That was probably the main memory I have of that week.

“It was class, a real special moment, especially when I finally got on that Scotland game. To share it with Caelan [Doris] was also brilliant as well. He made his debut that day as well. So, yeah, it was a great day for both of us.” 

Since opening with a win in the Six Nations, Kelleher has been a mainstay in Farrell’s 23.

Consistent, dogged and deceptively powerful, the 28-year-old has had a ding-dong battle with Dan Sheehan for starting honours for both Leinster and Ireland.

Kelleher was given the nod against the Bulls last month, a move that paid off as Leinster put away the South African heavyweights.

But Sheehan, who was named interim captain in the absence of the injured Doris for the July Tests, started against the Wallabies last week in their gripping encounter in Sydney.

It’s something that Kelleher still doesn’t love, but the competitive hooker can also see the importance of being on the field at the pointy end of Tests too.

“Yeah, of course, it can be frustrating. But I think it's just about how you flip your mindset really. I’m kind of big on the last 20 minutes of the game,” he said.

“Once you are named on the bench, your role changes. (The result) might come down to that last 20 minutes. It might come down to the last play of the game. So it's making sure you're always ready. You have to be across all your detail and everything.

“But it does have that mind shift. At the final whistle, you get to have that moment on the pitch, where you get to celebrate that final whistle going, if you've won a tight game or something like that.

“As you said, sometimes it can be a little bit frustrating. But it's just about trying to get your head around things and shift your mindset. You might be the one to make the difference at the end of the day.” 

Kelleher certainly was last weekend as Ireland overturned a 24-12 deficit to eventually win 33-31.

While Kelleher might wish to always start, his scrum coach John Fogarty loves the ongoing battle between the duo.

“Yeah, there is, and there should be. They’re different players, but they have huge qualities that they can offer massively to the team,” he said.

“I guess Leinster saw that when they were facing a Bulls pack. They decided to go with Rónan to start and then have Dan to finish.

“I mean, Dan must be a nightmare for teams coming off the bench and his ability to move quickly, his ability to get through contact, etc. So we've got two world-class hookers.” 

 While there’s nowhere else Kelleher would rather be than out in the middle, the dry rake did say there were some things he’d prefer not to do. Taking a quick tap near the Wallabies’ line, for instance.

“It was tough going against Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Taniela Tupou,” he said.

“That was very tough. But yeah, it's part of the job really. I don't know how it's fallen to the hooker! I think Exeter brought it in years ago, but I don't know why it's still with the hooker.” 

 One thing that Kelleher has learned though is that if you’re going to do it, you can’t be half-pregnant about it.

“You basically just have to be fully committed to the carry. Because if you go in half-assed, [you’ll be chewed up and spat out]. What's so important with that first carry is that you try and eat up as many metres as possible, try and get as close to the line as possible, if not, obviously, score.

“But if you go half-assed into it and you lose that collision. you lose that metre or you lose that two metres, then all of a sudden that next one's happening four metres back from the line and it's kind of redundant. So it's just about being fully committed, accelerating into it and trying to score.” 

 Suffice to say he did his job against the Wallabies given Thomas Clarkson, his front-row teammate, scored soon after. It proved to be a match-winning moment.

As always, however, attention has quickly turned to the next job, starting this weekend.

Even though Ireland are expected to do a job on Japan, it won’t necessarily be a walk in the park, especially after Farrell made nine changes to his starting side, including promoting Kelleher.

Uncapped props Billy Bohan and Sam Illo are also slated to make their debuts off the bench, while Sean Jansen will start at No.8 and loose-forward Bryn Ward will also come off the bench.

Japan coach Eddie Jones has already set the tone for the spicy encounter too, saying he expects they will “dominate the Irish scrum” in the second.

Kelleher believes Japan will certainly pose a threat at the set-piece.

“They're very accurate in what they do,” he said. “They're pretty good technically scrum-wise so we've been watching them and trying to put a bit of a plan in place for what we're going to do.

“I think if we can get our stuff right, if we can get clean, good entries and get to height, I think we could do a bit of a job. But they're definitely dangerous and they're very accurate and a very stable scrum.”