Meet the new Keith Wood

“KEITH WOOD LITE” — the nickname gained by Leinster hooker Bernard Jackman.

You can see where it comes from, of course, and even the man himself sees the humour. “Same barber,” he laughs but there’s a lot more to the comparison than just the shaven tome. He doesn’t just look like the former Irish rugby great, he runs like him and carries the ball like him with the same pacey, aggressive mindset.

“He liked to carry the ball as well but that’s something I’ve always done, even at school,’’ Jackman says.

“I was fortunate enough to tour South Africa with him in 97/98 and he was very good in terms of giving advice. I’d love to be half as good as he was.

‘‘When I was in Connacht I did some throwing practice with him, Michael Bradley arranged it in Killaloe at about half-seven in the morning. I haven’t seen him since but in fairness to him, he gave me a dig-out there. Other hookers will tell you that as well, he was always very good to help out, give advice.”

Don’t be fooled; Jackman is already a lot more than half as good as Keith Wood.

By his own admission he’s bigger than ever this year, stronger than ever. At six feet and just short of 18 stone he’s a heavier load than Wood — hard to stop in full flight, harder still to run up against. Keith Wood Lite?

Keith Wood helping him out at half-seven in the morning in Killaloe, Wood’s hometown, speaks volumes for the generosity of the former Irish and Lions hero, but it also says a lot for Jackman.

Throwing, a crucial element of the hooker’s job, was long seen as his Achilles heel. That he would go to Killaloe near dawn to get a few tips from a legend says much about the man, about his work ethic, his ambition and drive for self-improvement.

It’s taken him a while to get to where he always wanted to be, but, at 31, it’s all the sweeter for that. And Bernard Jackman is one man who fully appreciates what he has.

He agreed: “It’s a great time to be playing for Leinster, the RDS is a great venue and we’ve had good results there in the Magner’s League. We’re slowly improving our away form, we sort of let ourselves down in that sense in the last couple of years which probably cost us the competition.

“Now we’re in a brilliant Heineken Cup group with Leicester, Toulouse and Edinburgh. That is one of the reasons I came to Leinster, to play in these sort of games. You want to play against the best teams and the best players. I really enjoy rugby — I coach a team as well, in Coolmine. I’m getting paid for what I do, I get to play in front of big crowds, on live TV, but those guys don’t get any of that. They go to work nine to six, come to training afterwards and all have family lives. There’s no glamour in what they do, they’re out there on a Sunday, usually in crappy conditions. Playing rugby is a huge sacrifice for them, these guys are doing this for nothing yet they put in a huge effort — I get paid, and get a lot of other stuff out of it as well. That rubs off on you. I realise how fortunate I am, I really appreciate it, and that’s what keeps me motivated.”

He’s a dead-on guy with no airs or graces. He has come a long, hard road to where he is now, has served his apprenticeship the old-fashioned way, including a stint in the AIL.

“I love the AIL. Last year when I couldn’t get a game with Leinster, I played two or three AIL games with Clontarf. It’s a tough physical league, you learn a lot in it, especially playing in this type of weather. The last couple of weeks the weather has been really bad and the AIL is great learning experience for that — you saw that with Anthony Foley in Llanelli last week. It’s like cup rugby every week and for the lads coming through, the academy fellas, they need a taste of that. You can push all the weights you want or run the bleep tests, but the AIL is what you need.”

Couldn’t get a game with Leinster 12 months ago, now a leading contender for the Irish shirt — did he see that coming? “No, not really. I always hoped for it but you’d be stupidly optimistic if you thought you’d be playing for Ireland when you’re only third-choice hooker for Leinster.

‘‘Thankfully it’s turned around. I kept the confidence in myself; I’m doing my best to keep Michael Cheika happy every week and if that leads on to something else, great.”

He added: “I want to win something with Leinster, but whatever happens with Ireland, happens. I know how fickle this game is — one bad game, one bad injury, and Brian Blaney could be back in and I could be out.

“I know I have to be consistent and I’m working hard on that. I’m satisfied to be back on the field but satisfied is a dangerous word. It implies that you’re content and I’m not. I’m enjoying it but I want to do better things.”

The supporters are finally cottoning on to Bernard, the Leinster fans especially.

Last week, in the win over Edinburgh at the RDS, when he trotted back onto the field after his blood-injury repairs, there was a discernible murmur, a chant.

“Yeah, some of the lads were slagging me about the crowd, there were doing ‘Jackman, do-do do-do do-do…’ like ‘Batman, do-do do-do do-do…’ I’m getting a bit of abuse over that, but it’s great.”

Today though, it’s Murrayfield, Edinburgh again, a must-win game.

Take it as read that Jackman will be playing his part.