IN THE DAYS leading up to Ireland’s Six Nations opener with France, Calvin Nash was feeling the pressure. Needing some words of wisdom ahead of winning just his second Test cap – and first Six Nations start – at the Stade Vélodrome, Nash picked up his phone and sent a message to Keith Earls.
“Man, I’m up the walls here.”
Earls’ reply helped put his former Munster teammate at ease.
“He just said, ‘Man, you need to enjoy it,’” says Nash. “He wished he enjoyed it more. And yeah, that’s what I tried to do out there I suppose.”
When it came to matchday Nash delivered in impressive fashion, playing his part in an excellent team performance and crossing for a well-taken second-half try in a record 38-17 win in France.
The advice from Earls helped, but those in camp already sensed Nash wasn’t quite himself ahead of a milestone night for the 26-year-old, with Ireland boss Andy Farrell seeking him out for a quiet word after Thursday’s Captain’s Run.
It opened up my eyes to how good Faz is with people, you know, looking out to see what way they are. He was like, ‘You’ve been quiet this week.’ And I was like, ‘How has he spotted this?’
“It was good. I had a good chat with him. He just said, what are you going to do in attack? What are you going to do in defence? That kind of way. I had all the answers. So he was like, there you go, there’s all the answers. Just be yourself. To be honest, that made me feel way better. It was class to be out there.
“To be honest I had a good chat with Gary [Keegan] as well, the psychologist last night [Thursday] and he kind of reiterated what Faz was saying to me, just be yourself.
“It’s not as if you just appeared in this Irish jersey, you’ve almost won it like, that kind of way. I think that really put my mind at ease. It was all about giving my best there I suppose and doing my best for the team.”
Nash crossed to score Ireland’s third try five minutes into the second half, diving over in the corner after good work by Robbie Henshaw and Caelan Doris.
“I remember just thinking, ‘Please, can I get the ball here please, please, please.’ And obviously Caelen gave the last pass. I was delighted, just went over the line, it was unreal from everyone else. I suppose I was just standing there.
“Ah, it was amazing. It was a massive honour to get the nod… the crowd were crazy, like, proper electric. It was amazing, an amazing experience.”
Nash’s journey to the Test stage made the night all the more sweeter. In early 2022, when Nash was struggling with injuries, the Limerick native became so frustrated he considered retirement – until Simon Zebo helped convince him to keep at it.
“Myself and Zebs were injured and I was like, ‘Man, what am I doing?’” Nash says.
“I just felt like I was in a rut, couldn’t get out of it. I’m massively privileged to be where I am.
“Faz says with great pressure comes massive privilege as well. It’s a great quote I feel. It was an unbelievable experience to hear the anthems and sing our own anthem. It was unbelievable. I’d love to do it again.”
