CALVIN NASH SMILES as he recalls his first time sharing a Munster dressing room with the current Ireland captain.
“First impressions of Pete… I was absolutely terrified, to be honest,” Nash says. “It was so scary. I felt like, ‘Jesus, it’s Peter O’Mahony,’ y’know? He obviously is such a leading presence.
“But you get to know Pete, he gets the piss taken out of him 24/7, he’s a gas man. And look, I’m obviously delighted to be up in the camps and get to know him way more. He’s a great father and a great person as well and we’re lucky to have him in the Irish system.”
Nash is as uncertain as anybody else as to how long that will remain the case. Without being asked directly about O’Mahony’s future, the Limerick native broaches the topic of the Ireland skipper’s prospective retirement by adding simply: “If I know Peter, I’m sure he’ll put Irish rugby ahead of himself.”
Either way, Nash has at least gotten to share two trophy-winning campaigns — last season’s URC with Munster and this year’s Six Nations with Ireland — with a legend of the game from his native province.
And the likes of O’Mahony are pivotal to the team atmosphere in which the 26-year-old was able to thrive as a fully fledged international this spring.
For Nash, it turns out that his longtime goal of playing for Ireland is even better in reality than it was in his dreams.
“You don’t realise how good craic you have, just to be amongst all the lads,” says the 26-year-old. “There’s such a great buzz going and such a great culture, going forward all the time. It’s always next-job focus and its great to play with a group like that.
“They’re all team players — that’s the best way I can describe it to you. Everyone wants the best for everyone. It’s just an amazing group to be a part of.”
That was exemplified by Mack Hansen last week, who joined up with Ireland in camp and who Nash says was “delighted to see me go well” in the 14 shirt that he’ll try to wrestle back from the Munster man this summer.
Where Hansen has clearly cracked test rugby, Nash feels like he’s getting there.
“Previously in camps, my mind had been so focused on every minor little detail and that probably took away from me actually expressing myself on the field,” Nash says. “And Faz always says that the quicker you can be yourself, the quicker you can start to enjoy it.
“That’s what he drives the whole time: just everyone being themselves and also enjoying the rugby we’re playing. Once you get all over your detail you can enjoy it.”
Did we catch a glimpse of that with Nash’s sumptuous offload from contact into the bread basket of the onrushing Bundee Aki in the first half against Scotland?
“Ah, maybe a bit. I try to do that a bit when I’m not being swallowed up by the big lads. I’m a bit vertically challenged,” Nash laughs.
But having had his first run on Ireland’s right wing, and having enjoyed his first piece of international silverware, Nash is already hellbent on continuing to learn under Andy Farrell, whom he credits alongside Ireland attack coach Mike Catt and Munster equivalent Mike Prendergast as being hugely influential in his becoming a test wing.
“I was kind of shocked with how well Andy handles people in general. He has a great outlook on everything and I feel like he’s probably a bit of a mastermind.
“It’s almost as if he has seen every possible scenario for you. He always has a good answer or good input, you know that kind of way?
“He was unbelievable for me through this whole campaign. He backed me through the whole thing and I just want to say thanks to him. I’ll keep it going hopefully, stay in camps.”
