Murray Kinsella reports from Soldier Field
ROB KEARNEY IS one of the last Ireland players out of the changing room, walking slowly up into the tunnel in his suit with a big slice of pizza in hand.
The fullback is clearly physically spent after one of the best Test performances of his career, but he agrees to stop for a few words.
Honest words.
“Yeah, ish… like,” says Kearney when asked if he proved his point to few people. “There were still a few mistakes out there.
“It’s been a tough enough 18 months. Just, first and foremost, my body has not been where it has been [in the past].
“Then on the back of that, you’re not playing to your potential and people get on your case, then you get on your own case. Inside my head has been a dark enough place in the last few months.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to be selected this week, and I’m just glad I was able to repay Joe and my fellow players the trust that has been shown. But there’s still lots of stuff to work on, it wasn’t a perfect performance by any means.”
This kind of honesty is sadly lacking in professional rugby. Kearney has been the target of repeated criticism in the last two seasons or so. He knows himself that he has not reached the peak of his form, but the flak has been excessive at times.
The Louth man has struggled with hamstring and back issues for most of the last 18 months, frustrating him as he attempted to be the player he feels he is capable of being.
Saturday in Soldier Field was close to vintage Kearney, with an aerial win over Ben Smith standing out, as well as the clean bust of the Kiwis’ defensive line before CJ Stander’s try.
Kearney needed those moments. Badly.
“It’s been tough,” he says. “I tell you how I got my confidence back – it was one high ball and one linebreak. I’ve been waiting for a spark, something like that, for so long and this week I just said, ‘Don’t wait, just go try and make something happen with the shackles free.’
“I’ve been in those moments before and things haven’t gone your way. So I won’t get carried away by any means, but it’s nice to be back on the horse a little bit, for how long I don’t know.”
That final sentence shows that Kearney still feels somewhat vulnerable.
But Joe Schmidt’s faith in him was repaid against the All Blacks, even if there were a few hairy moments – “a few missed tackles and some coverage in the backfield,” says Kearney himself.
Schmidt attempted to light a fire under his fullback in slightly unorthodox fashion before the game, by adding to the pressure Kearney felt to deliver.
“He pulled me aside before the game and he said, ‘You need a big one today,’” explains Kearney with a laugh. “It wasn’t ideal, but it was good.”
Schmidt knew he would get a response from the 30-year-old.
“Yeah, maybe he did. We’ve been together a long time now from when he first came to Leinster. So maybe that was the one-liner that I need to put the fear of God into me.”
All around Kearney in the Ireland team were world-class performances. Henshaw, Murray, Stander, Zebo, Trimble, all of them.
Even young Joey Carbery came off the bench with 21 minutes remaining against the best team in the world and helped Ireland to see it out, kicking a penalty along the way.
Kearney grabbed his Leinster team-mate for a quick word in the changing room afterwards.
“I just told him he has balls of steel!”
There were some post-match texts exchanged with brother Dave, who missed out on the chance of playing on Saturday through injury, having been involved in the 2o13 heartbreak against the Kiwis.
“It’s moments like these are tough for him,” says Rob. “He’s obviously really proud of my performance and the team’s performance but he’s really disappointed to be missing out as well, given the contribution he had back in 2013.
“I’m sure he’s not the only one, there are loads of guys.”
Kearney himself is one of the survivors of that 2013 defeat in the Aviva Stadium, Saturday’s win helping to wipe away that pain – even if the All Blacks’ second-half resurgence brought with it flashbacks.
“It was unbelievable,” says Kearney. “When they got their few tries and they had their purple patch, we came back under the sticks and… we were right back in the Aviva in 2013 when we were under our sticks after losing the game.
“You learn from those experiences and I think we played and went to the edge once, and Zeebs kicked that ball down the line. That was a huge play, whereas maybe back in 2013 we would have just kicked off first phase and let them come back at us.
“It’s little intricacies likes that that you can’t see them from the spectator watching, but to us it was a big moment in how far we’ve come maybe.”
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