Comeback on for ‘frustrated’ former Munster star Ian Nagle

Former Munster lock Ian Nagle — man of the match in their 2010 win over Australia — looks on the verge of a shock return to professional rugby 18 months after taking a break

Nagle, currently preparing for next week’s Cambridge-Oxford varsity match alongside Welsh international Jamie Roberts, is now a student in the illustrious MBA business course at Cambridge. But a handful of offers from some of the top professional clubs in Ireland and England have 27-year-old Nagle prepared to make his comeback at the end of the college year. It is believed London Irish and Worcester Warriors are keen, while Munster, Leinster and Ulster have expressed an interest. Before being accepted to the UK’s top college this September, Nagle worked in Washington DC with the aim of a future career in a venture capital firm. But despite being frustrated with his progress as a rugby player, he’s ready to give it another shot.

“I know I’m fortunate. Every reason I took a break from rugby was a positive one. I got to have a say in the break — it wasn’t enforced,” said Nagle. “I was in no man’s land in terms of the guarantees I had. I took time away from rugby before I had the guarantee of getting into the MBA. But I knew what I wanted to do and I was fortunate to be able to transfer the discipline of what I learned in rugby into something different.

“People in Munster were very understanding. I spoke to Anthony Foley and Garrett Fitzgerald and I think they understood it. They saw the injuries I had and the timing of them and they understood I was a bit frustrated.”

The big second-row played 28 times for Munster, but last featured for the southern province in December 2013, before he moved on loan to Newcastle in the English Premiership. Injury halted his progress in the UK before he decided to make a clean break from the game.Any return home to Ireland would be an emotional trip for the Buttevant man, but he seems open to whatever opportunities comes his way.

“Munster made it clear the door will always be open for me to come back. There were a few clubs I spoke to before I finished with Munster and I flagged it with them too that I was thinking of taking time away from the game. All those clubs were all open to it too. I have kept in touch with a few of them. If I hadn’t been accepted to the MBA I had a few opportunities to go back and play rugby, but when I got in a few of them said the door would be open for me. There are no guarantees and no contracts signed, but all going well something will pop up in the New Year,” Nagle said.

Being behind some of Munster’s greatest second-rows – Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan and Donncha O’Callaghan – in the pecking order certainly meant chances to shine were few for Nagle, but he says it was his own frustrations that drove him back to academia and on the cusp of the December 10 Varsity Match.

“I found myself a little bit frustrated, but it was never at anyone or anything. It was myself,” he said. “From when I was 16 I used to travel into the gym at UL from Glenstal with Ray Egan. For nine years I sacrificed everything for rugby and happy to do so, but I was frustrated I didn’t achieve all I wanted.

“I found myself getting more and more excited by the prospect of doing the MBA, doing a bit of travelling and getting involved in a start up, while keeping the rugby window ajar. Right now I’m focused on my studies, but I’m looking forward to the varsity game too. We’ll see what happens.”