As the early stages of pre-season are about to begin, Waterford's Jack O Donoghue would probably rather be in a different hemisphere.
The Munster back row is at home for a seldom found visit and while he's now had a couple of weeks off, the preparations for next season are already to the fore as he heads for a running season to loosen out the legs.
O' Donoghue was named Munster player of the season two weeks ago after a phenomenal outing in 2022. He captained the province on no less than 12 occasions, he lined out in 23 of 26 games and registered more minutes on the field than any other player (1,638 if you're counting). He dotted down for nine tries across two competitions and adds this latest award to his 2015 academy player of the year accolade.
With all that taken into account the question must be asked - "Why is he not in New Zealand right now?"
Ireland
"Well Paul O Connell would have rang me and let me know. He tells you the reasons why they're going with X, Y & Z. I am in an unfortunate position that I'm in such a competitive playing position in terms of there are three people from Leinster who are going [on the summer tour]. They're getting to a Champions Cup final and they are winning a lot of competitions. You've got young lads coming through with Andy [Farrell] building to a World Cup and they're also playing really well for their province. Then you have your own province and the competition you have there. You have the bones of 12 or 15 players all competing at international level for three starting spots. There are going to be people who miss out and that's unfortunate. I was devastated, I was disappointed but at the same time I've come to terms with that now and I'm looking forward to next season. That just gives you the spurt to go again."
O' Donoghue says that O' Connell advised him to keep his head down and maintain the work he has been doing. If the former Waterpark player can replicate the same standard of performance under the stewardship of Graeme Rowntree he can't but put himself back in contention for a green jersey ahead of the World Cup in France.
Mindset
One person who has often been touted by professional athletes and GAA players alike is Caroline Currid. The Sligo native was named by Paul O' Connell in his autobiography as the person who extended his career. The sports psychologist has been a mainstay with Munster and the Limerick hurlers alike. Jack says that Currid has had a similar impact on him. He told WLR Sport that while he was once likely to be overly critical of himself, he now knows how to deal with disappointment and not let it eat him.
His plan from the start of the most recent season was to focus on Munster and put Ireland out of his mind. That plan worked as well as it could have with Jack putting in the best season of his career where he has become one of the foremost leaders at Munster. With the new season looming he says that he intends to go again, "look, we'll regroup. I'll go again for next season. Everybody wants to play for their country and it's just unfortunate that I am in an incredibly stacked position of back rows".
The year did end without a piece of silverware for the cabinet, but O' Donoghue is one of the players who has emerged with his stature increased. Individual awards aside, he is now second in command to Peter O' Mahony. He credits his pre-season work in 2021 as one of the main factors in his performances, "It takes such a toll on your body that the more conditioned you are in, that's what helps you as the season goes on". There's nothing new in that. It's no great revelation that physical training helps athletes, but O' Donoghue does credit Currid with providing that extra 1% to his game.
"It's just something so simple about getting my mind right. My preparation and my routine throughout the week. That didn't change for any game. It becomes almost robotic, but I found exactly what clicked for me in terms of getting my detail out of the way, so that later in the week I was able to relax and enjoy the build-up. Before I would have been scrambling wondering had I gotten something done, but that takes your mind off what it should be doing. I started enjoying rugby and going out with a smile on my face. I started enjoying playing with the lads who are there because there's a great group of lads there".
2022
While Munster's wait for silverware has been extended by another year, they came unbearably close this past campaign. A heartbreaking extra time/spot-kicks loss to Toulouse in the Aviva meant their European journey came to an end at the quarter-final stage. Two weeks after that day in Dublin, Johann Van Graan's team would return to the scene of the crime where Leinster were lying in wait in the United Rugby Championship. The loss to Leinster meant Munster had an away quarter-final in the competition, but O' Donoghue remarks that while they thought they'd put the Toulouse loss past them, they weren't ready to face the old rival.
"While we said we were over it and we dealt with it, looking back on the Leinster performance, I don't think we really did. That's something that we'll learn from and we'll be able to put it bed next year when something like that comes up. We didn't really accept the outcome of what happened. We were disappointed, and maybe feeling sorry for ourselves. Sometimes all you want to do is play a match the following week, but it probably got drawn out a bit because we had a week off. We came up against a Leinster side who were on top form and they were hungry with fresh bodies coming into the team and they did a job on us."
Captaincy
Jack will forever be in the record books as the first man from Waterford to captain the senior side. That's not something that can be taken away from him. He first wore the armband in 2018 in a loss to Cardiff and since then he has become the on-call captain when O' Mahony is not available. He says is something that he is incredibly proud of. "You have the honour of running out in Thomond Park and leading a team out. The most special one was the Champions Cup game over in Exeter. Even though we didn't win it, I was so proud of the lads the way we fought back and the way we held them out at the end. It's hard to put into words. It's something I would have done at underage [captaining teams] but you run out and you have Simon Zebo running behind you and you're leading them into battle. It's incredible then when the crowd gets behind you, it really is special."
Déise Rising
This coming year we will see something that we've never seen before in Munster. For the first time ever there will be three Waterford players wearing the red jersey for the senior team. O' Donoghue and Thomas Ahern are going to be joined by Eoin O' Connor who earned a senior contract off the back of his performance in the loss to Exeter in Sandy Park. That day Van Graan had to pick an inexperienced team with a handful of academy debutants as covid had ran rampant through the camp.
"It's great craic. We have a Whatsapp group for the three of us. The two lads are obviously closer in age than me and would have played together in Waterpark and coming up through Munster. We always speak about trying to get to a soccer or hurling match. The two lads bring great energy and keep me young."
Speaking about Ahern who has had a massive impact since getting his first proper taste of senior rugby, O' Donoghue warns that the best is very much yet to come for the man from Ardmore.
"His athletic ability is phenomenal. Up until he came into Munster he was playing in the backs and then he gets transitioned into the second row. Not many go that way, especially into the engine room" O' Donoghue laughs. "His Gaelic background [is clear to see] he's catching balls above his head, he's hurdling over lads, he has the ball in one hand and he's trying to fire it out the back. He's lightning-quick and once he gets up his stride length must be 2 metres. He is absolutely phenomenal."
O' Donoghue talks about a game with the Sharks in Thomond Park where Ahern found himself out on the wing. Simon Zebo was making his way up the wing, but the 6 foot 8 colossus was keeping pace with the backline man with ease. "You can see from where he started from last season, he's put on a lot more size and that's only going to add to his game. Next season he'll kick on again and get into a starting lineup."
What's Next?
It's all change around Thomond Park next year. Johann Van Graan has departed for Bath along with coach JP Ferreira as well as backs coach Stephen Larkham returning home to Australia.
Graeme Rowntree has been promoted to the hot seat where he will be joined by Dennis Leamy, Mike Prendergast and Andi Kyriacou. While the speculation surrounded how the players would deal with Van Graan's departure, O' Donoghue says it's not something that they were bothered by day to day. He says that it's a professional sport, and much like any profession people come and go all the time, "It's something we're well used to. It is a job and you have to do what's right for your family especially when you are that far away from the support network that you would have had".
Maybe the fans just can't separate their emotional support from the cold nature of these decisions.
Rowntree will be aiming to become the first Munster coach to lift silverware since the 2011 Magners League (now the URC).
Tony McGahan, Rob Penney, the late Anthony Foley, Rassie Erasmus and Van Graan have all tried and failed to bring that losing record to an end. The majority of the fan base seems to feel that the province have gotten the right man for the job and O' Donoghue counts himself among their ranks.
"Absolutely 100% we're backing Rowntree. He knew the group, he knew the culture of Munster and he's from a club like Munster in Leicester. I'm incredibly excited by the coaching ticket. I've seen what Mike has done in the Top14. Leamy coming back in - he coached me with the U20s and to have that Munster presence again. He knows what it takes to win a Heineken Cup because he's done it. You have a lot of that Munster pride coming back and I think it's going to be a good ticket and an exciting season ahead"
Before he leaves the studio in the broadcast centre, O' Donoghue does remark that while there is cause for excitement and a potential return to the top table, it's not something that will happen overnight.
"It won't be pretty the first few games of the season either so before the fans start giving out about him [Rowntree] just relax".
