SUMMER WEDDINGS ARE usually the norm for sports stars with busy schedules and Shane Jennings is no different. In a couple of weeks, the Leinster and Ireland flanker will wed financée Clíona Goodwin in Tipperary.
Jennings took time out from wedding preparations to promote a fundraising event, The Gathering Ball, for a charity he has been involved with for the past four years. The 31-year-old insists, however, that, as worthwhile as the event is, he would have been happy to put off the photo shoot by a week to tour with Ireland.
One of Joe Schmidt’s trusted lieutenants at Leinster, Jennings was deemed surplus to requirements for the Ireland summer tour to North America. The flanker has 13 caps for his country but, with Schmidt primed to take over as Ireland boss from Monday morning, hopes of adding to that number.
He told TheScore.ie, “The wedding preparations aren’t too hectic but I’d prefer to be in America and Canada. That’s not in my control, though, as I wasn’t picked.”
Chris Henry and Tommy O’Donnell look set to compete with Sean O’Brien for the 7 jersey when the Tullow Tank returns from Lions duty but Jennings is not giving up on his country yet. “Far from it,” he declared. “I’m happy with my form and how I was playing. I was hoping to be in the shake-up but it wasn’t to be.
Joe knows what I can do. Going forward, he’ll look to give everyone a shot. If you’re on form he has no problem giving players an opportunity. I certainly don’t want to give up on my Irish career.”
As a four-time Heineken Cup-winning flanker, Jennings is well placed to offer his opinion on the current Lions tour and the chances of Leinster teammates O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip making the back row for the First Test against Australia. Heaslip, he says, has hit form at the right time while O’Brien may feature in any of the three back row positions.
‘A great leveller’
Jennings, through the Boardmatch programme run by the Irish Rugby Union Players Association, is a trustee on the board of Ronald McDonald House, the charitable organisation that raises funds for the Children’s Hospital in Crumlin. The bonds were formed, he explains, when he made a visit to the hospital in 2009 with the Heineken Cup and meet a young Kerry boy who was suffering from cancer.
He said, “I first met Donal Walsh in 2009 at the hospital and went out to visit him in Cappagh. I made a few more visits to the hospital after that and, during the (2011) World Cup, I visited Wellington Children’s Hospital and they had a similar set up there. When I got back, I contacted (RMHC chief executive) Marian Carroll and she said they’d be happy to have me help out.”
Jennings pays tribute to Leinster Rugby for their support with the charity over the past year and making it a charity partner for the 2012/13 season. “All the players, too, have been fantastic. Whether it was bag-packing, charity cycles, signing jerseys or golf days, there was always a queue of players lining up to do it.”
Jennings, his fiancée Clíona Goodwin and Katie McLaughlin from Donegal launching the RMHC Gathering Ball.
The hands-on work with the staff at RMHC and regular visits to the hospital have kept Jennings grounded over the past few seasons as Leinster have done battle with Europe’s elite.
He said, “As you get older as a rugby player, and you’ve been around the block, you broaden your horizons and look to develop more as a person.
The work with Ronald McDonald House is a great leveller. If you are pissed off at not getting selected or after losing a match, you only have to go up to the Children’s Hospital to see the children, their families, and see the real hardship they are going through.
“You realise you don’t have any real problems and all. You see how blessed you are.”
The Gathering Ball takes place on 12 October at the Convention Centre, Dublin in aid of The Ronald McDonald House.
