BRIAN GLEESON’S MIND went to one place when he realised a whack brought more damage than a dead arm.
He lasted 28 minutes during Munster’s win over Leinster after impressing during the opening URC rounds. Andy Farrell had already picked up the phone prior to the Croke Park victory last month. That good news quickly gave way to bad.
“Initially I got the bang, I thought it was a dead arm,” says Gleeson. “So the physios came running onto the field and I was like ‘I’m grand, I’ll be fine’. I got to get up and go play and I felt it move and I was like, ‘This has gone.’
“And then my mind went to, ‘That’s Chicago gone.’”
The original plan was for Gleeson to join Munster teammate Edwin Edogbo in flying out with Ireland to train prior to the All Blacks clash. The combative backrow was then due to feature in the Ireland XV win over Spain.
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Gleeson was forced off early against Leinster last month. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
Given Gus McCarthy started the last November window as a training panellist only to end up winning a senior cap, opportunities like these are always open-ended. One impact on Jones’ Road sent Gleeson for surgery instead of Illinois and a chance to force a senior debut during the November window.
There is at least a timeline on his return. “I have my eyes on the Ulster game [2 January] to try and get back for that, the week before the two-game block of the Champions Cup games,” said Gleeson. “I’m five-and a half weeks in now, and I got good news there on Tuesday, so everything is looking good, everything’s still in place form the surgery and I should get back in about four or five weeks.”
Aged 21, Gleeson is a fascinating prospect. Barely a year out of the U20s programme – where he played in two Six Nations campaigns thanks to first making the grade aged 18 – he featured for Ireland A against England last February. He has been identified by some in the Irish system as one with future-Lions potential.
His favoured position is number eight, an area where Ireland are well-stocked. Yet Farrell has still deemed Gleeson worthy of a closer look. Young, inexperienced and not in a problem position. Gleeson’s rise in national estimation is a stark contrast to that of his provincial teammate, Gavin Coombes, who for so long couldn’t seem to get a look-in despite some dominant URC numbers.
The back row had made a strong start to the season. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
What is it about Gleeson? It’s not Farrell’s style to tell players why he rates them. Or at least not in the brief phone call alerting a young man of a trip to Chicago which cruelly never happened.
“I got a phone call off of this random number, which I normally don’t answer,” recalls Gleeson.
“But it was Andy Farrell on the phone and that was a pretty cool experience. I didn’t know how to react on the phone when he said who he was so I just let out a nervous laugh and he wasn’t expecting that either! But he said I’d been going well and thought it would be a good experience for me. That was kind of it.”
It is left to us to fill in the explanatory gaps. Or at least ask the man himself what he thinks he’s done right.
“I like to be a physical player, whether it’s on defence or attack,” says Gleeson.
If I’m carrying, no matter who’s in front of me I want to go through them, same if it’s tackling.
“If I can be as physical as I can then it gives me confidence around my other aspects of my game as well.
“I was lucky enough to get an opportunity in the first game of the season against Scarlets. My game was more moments than [consistency] throughout the game. It was a focus on trying to get more involved throughout the game, build moments on top of each other.
“I built on that well, especially in the Leinster game I was doing really well until I got the injury. The focus for when I’m back will be how many moments… the more I’m involved in the game the better it will be.”
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'I thought it was a dead arm. Then my mind went to, ‘That’s Chicago gone’'
BRIAN GLEESON’S MIND went to one place when he realised a whack brought more damage than a dead arm.
He lasted 28 minutes during Munster’s win over Leinster after impressing during the opening URC rounds. Andy Farrell had already picked up the phone prior to the Croke Park victory last month. That good news quickly gave way to bad.
“Initially I got the bang, I thought it was a dead arm,” says Gleeson. “So the physios came running onto the field and I was like ‘I’m grand, I’ll be fine’. I got to get up and go play and I felt it move and I was like, ‘This has gone.’
“And then my mind went to, ‘That’s Chicago gone.’”
The original plan was for Gleeson to join Munster teammate Edwin Edogbo in flying out with Ireland to train prior to the All Blacks clash. The combative backrow was then due to feature in the Ireland XV win over Spain.
Given Gus McCarthy started the last November window as a training panellist only to end up winning a senior cap, opportunities like these are always open-ended. One impact on Jones’ Road sent Gleeson for surgery instead of Illinois and a chance to force a senior debut during the November window.
There is at least a timeline on his return. “I have my eyes on the Ulster game [2 January] to try and get back for that, the week before the two-game block of the Champions Cup games,” said Gleeson. “I’m five-and a half weeks in now, and I got good news there on Tuesday, so everything is looking good, everything’s still in place form the surgery and I should get back in about four or five weeks.”
Aged 21, Gleeson is a fascinating prospect. Barely a year out of the U20s programme – where he played in two Six Nations campaigns thanks to first making the grade aged 18 – he featured for Ireland A against England last February. He has been identified by some in the Irish system as one with future-Lions potential.
His favoured position is number eight, an area where Ireland are well-stocked. Yet Farrell has still deemed Gleeson worthy of a closer look. Young, inexperienced and not in a problem position. Gleeson’s rise in national estimation is a stark contrast to that of his provincial teammate, Gavin Coombes, who for so long couldn’t seem to get a look-in despite some dominant URC numbers.
What is it about Gleeson? It’s not Farrell’s style to tell players why he rates them. Or at least not in the brief phone call alerting a young man of a trip to Chicago which cruelly never happened.
“I got a phone call off of this random number, which I normally don’t answer,” recalls Gleeson.
“But it was Andy Farrell on the phone and that was a pretty cool experience. I didn’t know how to react on the phone when he said who he was so I just let out a nervous laugh and he wasn’t expecting that either! But he said I’d been going well and thought it would be a good experience for me. That was kind of it.”
It is left to us to fill in the explanatory gaps. Or at least ask the man himself what he thinks he’s done right.
“I like to be a physical player, whether it’s on defence or attack,” says Gleeson.
“If I can be as physical as I can then it gives me confidence around my other aspects of my game as well.
“I was lucky enough to get an opportunity in the first game of the season against Scarlets. My game was more moments than [consistency] throughout the game. It was a focus on trying to get more involved throughout the game, build moments on top of each other.
“I built on that well, especially in the Leinster game I was doing really well until I got the injury. The focus for when I’m back will be how many moments… the more I’m involved in the game the better it will be.”
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Brían Gleeson Champions Cup Munster Rugby