IRELAND HAD A day off in Sydney on Sunday, and Robbie Henshaw took the time to go and meet an old friend from Connacht, former out-half Dan Parks.
The pair reflected on some of the good times they shared for the western province from 2012 to 2014, when Parks retired from professional rugby.
Parks now lives in his native Sydney, working in the insurance broking world.
He takes a break from a busy Monday morning to meet The 42 in Sydney’s CBD and talk about those enjoyable years in Galway, as well as a rugby career that took in 67 caps for Scotland, for whom he qualified to play through his grandfather.
The 48-year-old has kept himself in good shape, training in the gym at least three mornings a week, and meeting a group of friends at Coogee Beach at 6am every Wednesday morning for an exercise session that makes him still feel part of a team.
Parks remains involved in rugby as a commentator for Stan Sport, and discusses his memories in the sport at lots of work events. He has an impressively sharp mind when it comes to recalling the specifics of games he played in.
He has a few events this week with former Wallabies in the build-up to the Saturday’s Nations Championship clash on Saturday at Allianz Stadium, where he will host in one of the hospitality boxes.
Parks loved the chance to catch up with his old mate Henshaw on Sunday. He saw the huge potential in the Athlone man as soon as he joined Connacht, so he hasn’t been surprised to see Henshaw winning 84 Ireland caps and going on two Lions tours.
“He has not changed, and that’s because of his groundedness in his family. I could always see that in him,” says Parks.
“Back in those early days in Connacht, his dad used to often say, ‘Dan, I’d like to take you for a meal,’ and we’d catch up, and we’d just talk.
“They’re just a really nice family. One of Robbie’s sisters came out here to Australia maybe four years ago with her fiancé at the time. She looked me up, and we caught up for breakfast one day.
“But Robbie is clearly one of the best talents that’s come out of that area. What a kid, he was incredible even back then.”
Parks hasn’t been back to Connacht since his last visit in 2015, but he hopes to return soon, potentially even later this year when the Wallabies are touring in the Northern Hemisphere.
Dan Parks after his last home Connacht game in 2014. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
He has lots of fond memories of living in Knocknacarra in Galway and playing for Connacht, although he also had some good times playing against Irish teams when he wore the blue of Scotland.
Parks had a particularly brilliant Six Nations in 2010, when he won three man-of-the-match awards in his four appearances after being recalled, including against Ireland in their farewell match at Croke Park.
With the ‘Killer Bs’ of Barclay, Beattie and Brown in the back row doing damage, Parks kicked five penalties in Scotland’s 23-20 victory, landing the winning points in the 78th minute, just after Ronan O’Gara had equalised.
“Ronan kicked a wonderful goal from the sideline,” says Parks. “He came on early; Sexto wasn’t having his best day.
“O’Gara came on, kicked the goal, and I’m like, ‘Oh, here we go.’ But we still had belief, and then we got that late penalty.
“Luckily we were at Croke Park the day before [for the captain's run], and I learned a lot about the ground and how the wind would swell inside the stadium.
“It was really interesting because I remember standing on that left sideline, and the wind was blowing from right to left, so usually I would start that ball outside the right pole, but what I learned from the day before was it didn’t matter what you did, everything would just move into the middle. Does that make sense?
“It was like a big funnel that would push everything into the middle, so I started the ball outside the left pole.
“As soon as I hit it, I’m like, ‘Well, this isn’t missing.’”
Parks had also dropped a goal just before half-time in that win over Ireland.
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This was a speciality of his throughout his career with Leeds, Glasgow, Cardiff, Scotland and Connacht.
“I used to have a lot of conversations with my dad before playing pro sport, watching rugby league in particular, and then once we got into watching more rugby union, he couldn’t believe that you got three points for a drop goal,” says Parks.
“He just found it fascinating; he was like, ‘Why don’t people in rugby take more drop goals?’
“They can’t stop it if you’re good at something like that. You get in the pocket, it’s an easy three points. And if you’re defending, being disciplined and then some bloke just keeps kicking three, mate, it mentally frightens you.
“Right on the stroke of half-time in Croke Park, we’re in the sheds pumped up, the Irish are probably going, ‘You b*stard.’”
Parks and Kelly Brown at Croker in 2010. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Though he happily broke Irish hearts that day, Parks always had major respect for Irish teams, regularly playing against them with Glasgow and Cardiff, as well as Scotland.
Indeed, a classy touch from that day in Croker stands out.
“Johnny was wonderful to me, very friendly after the game,” says Parks.
“We went to exchange jerseys, but he didn’t accept mine. He made it clear it was my day, and he wanted me to enjoy it.
“I just thought that was a really quality moment.”
Not that Parks always enjoyed playing against Irish teams.
“God, they got in my face big time one day in Murrayfield, but I loved it as long as there was respect after the game, which there was,” says Parks.
“There were some real tough competitors, Donncha O’Callaghan and Alan Quinlan, just tough guys, but as soon as you finish the game, it was nothing but respect.
“I always remember those guys because Munster, back when I was playing in Glasgow they were just in your face, so aggressive.
“I hated playing against them. I hated it because you know those types of blokes. But it was fun.”
Having played with Cardiff from 2010 until 2012, Parks got a call from then-Connacht assistant coach Billy Millard about coming to Ireland.
Millard, who is now back with Connacht as general manager, put Parks in touch with head coach Eric Elwood, who convinced the out-half to move, having retired from international rugby.
“At the time, Eric was potentially looking at if I wanted to retire after a couple of years with Connacht and go into a coaching role
“Eric was talking about where they’re wanting to go, what they’re wanting to achieve, how they’re wanting to build up the province. I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’
“That first year was one of the most enjoyable rugby experiences I had.”
Those were different times in Connacht. The impressive new stand at Dexcom Stadium and the high performance training centre that Stuart Lancaster’s team train in now would have been hard to imagine.
The old grass training pitch “was very unpleasant” when it rained, and the facilities were generally more rudimentary, but Parks loved getting stuck into helping Connacht improve.
Parks with Tiernan O'Halloran in the summer of 2014. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
“Part of my role initially was to help mentor the likes of Robbie, Kieran Marmion, and Tiernan O’Halloran,” says Parks.
“Now, what better three young fellas. Kieran was a wonderful player. Robbie, what a kid, and then Tiernan did some wonderful things, a great fellow off the field.
“Then there were the older heads: John Muldoon, Swifty, Gavin Duffy, Johnny O’Connor was there. Then you had the likes of Paulie O’Donoghue, who just kept things very entertaining.
“It was such a great group, a really well assembled group.”
Parks has huge regard for Connacht legend Elwood, who stepped aside from the head coach role at the end of the 2012/13 season.
Elwood remains integrally involved with Connacht now as academy manager.
“I think the very first game of rugby I played in Galway, Eric was the 10,” says Parks. “He would have been towards the end of his career, but he was just dictating terms, and I was going, ‘F*ck, this bloke’s killing us.’
“And working with him, first and foremost, there’s how much of a wonderful man he is.
“All the players had massive respect for him.”
Pat Lam came in as the boss in 2013, and Parks admits that it wasn’t as smooth a working relationship between them, although always respectful.
“Pat’s mindset was obviously a lot different to Eric’s. I guess for me as an older bloke, I probably didn’t see it as well as I saw Eric’s perspective because, let’s be honest, I went to Connacht because of Eric.
“Pat was so different, very intense. He obviously had an idea in his head about where this was going to go. He spoke really well, he spoke to the community well, he got the community right behind the club, which I thought was marvellous.”
Lam had a clear view of how Connacht should play, encouraging them to attack from everywhere with ball in hand, while Parks believed in more of a balanced game featuring more kicking.
Parks continued to play a central role in the team, even with Jack Carty beginning to break through and Miah Nikora another option at out-half.
And there was one particularly great day in that second season with Connacht when they beat the mighty Toulouse 16-14 at Stade Ernest Wallon in December 2013. It was a titanic victory in Connacht’s history.
“It was a famous win,” says Parks. “That was huge; it was a historic moment.”
Parks and Connacht celebrate in Toulouse in 2013. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Connacht later looked back on that Toulouse win as being one of the moments when they began to think that they could do something great under Lam, which happened when they won the Pro 12 in 2016.
Parks retired at the end of the 2013/14 season, but he stayed in Galway for that summer, which was a “wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable” way to finish his two-year spell in Ireland.
Parks initially did some TV work with Sky Sports in the UK but moved back to Australia and started down the coaching route in 2015 with club sides in Sydney, as well as having a stint as an assistant coach with Samoa in 2016. He also had his own kicking business.
In January 2017, his partner was pregnant, and Parks had a moment of realisation.
“Sh*t, I’ve actually gotta think about someone else now and try and plan for whatever the next 40 years looks like,” he thought to himself.
That’s when he ventured into the business world, and he now works for an insurance broking company called Aviso Specialty. He has found plenty of overlaps from professional rugby.
“What I’ve learned over time, all my years playing and all my years now in business, it’s not necessarily the business you’re in; it’s the people you’re with that make it interesting,” says Parks.
“The biggest crossover is relationships with people.”
Which is one reason Parks enjoyed catching up with Henshaw, and why this weekend’s game in Sydney is so exciting.
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'Sexton wanted me to enjoy it. I thought that was a quality moment'
IRELAND HAD A day off in Sydney on Sunday, and Robbie Henshaw took the time to go and meet an old friend from Connacht, former out-half Dan Parks.
The pair reflected on some of the good times they shared for the western province from 2012 to 2014, when Parks retired from professional rugby.
Parks now lives in his native Sydney, working in the insurance broking world.
He takes a break from a busy Monday morning to meet The 42 in Sydney’s CBD and talk about those enjoyable years in Galway, as well as a rugby career that took in 67 caps for Scotland, for whom he qualified to play through his grandfather.
The 48-year-old has kept himself in good shape, training in the gym at least three mornings a week, and meeting a group of friends at Coogee Beach at 6am every Wednesday morning for an exercise session that makes him still feel part of a team.
Parks remains involved in rugby as a commentator for Stan Sport, and discusses his memories in the sport at lots of work events. He has an impressively sharp mind when it comes to recalling the specifics of games he played in.
He has a few events this week with former Wallabies in the build-up to the Saturday’s Nations Championship clash on Saturday at Allianz Stadium, where he will host in one of the hospitality boxes.
Parks loved the chance to catch up with his old mate Henshaw on Sunday. He saw the huge potential in the Athlone man as soon as he joined Connacht, so he hasn’t been surprised to see Henshaw winning 84 Ireland caps and going on two Lions tours.
“He has not changed, and that’s because of his groundedness in his family. I could always see that in him,” says Parks.
“Back in those early days in Connacht, his dad used to often say, ‘Dan, I’d like to take you for a meal,’ and we’d catch up, and we’d just talk.
“They’re just a really nice family. One of Robbie’s sisters came out here to Australia maybe four years ago with her fiancé at the time. She looked me up, and we caught up for breakfast one day.
“But Robbie is clearly one of the best talents that’s come out of that area. What a kid, he was incredible even back then.”
Parks hasn’t been back to Connacht since his last visit in 2015, but he hopes to return soon, potentially even later this year when the Wallabies are touring in the Northern Hemisphere.
He has lots of fond memories of living in Knocknacarra in Galway and playing for Connacht, although he also had some good times playing against Irish teams when he wore the blue of Scotland.
Parks had a particularly brilliant Six Nations in 2010, when he won three man-of-the-match awards in his four appearances after being recalled, including against Ireland in their farewell match at Croke Park.
With the ‘Killer Bs’ of Barclay, Beattie and Brown in the back row doing damage, Parks kicked five penalties in Scotland’s 23-20 victory, landing the winning points in the 78th minute, just after Ronan O’Gara had equalised.
“Ronan kicked a wonderful goal from the sideline,” says Parks. “He came on early; Sexto wasn’t having his best day.
“O’Gara came on, kicked the goal, and I’m like, ‘Oh, here we go.’ But we still had belief, and then we got that late penalty.
“Luckily we were at Croke Park the day before [for the captain's run], and I learned a lot about the ground and how the wind would swell inside the stadium.
“It was really interesting because I remember standing on that left sideline, and the wind was blowing from right to left, so usually I would start that ball outside the right pole, but what I learned from the day before was it didn’t matter what you did, everything would just move into the middle. Does that make sense?
“It was like a big funnel that would push everything into the middle, so I started the ball outside the left pole.
“As soon as I hit it, I’m like, ‘Well, this isn’t missing.’”
Parks had also dropped a goal just before half-time in that win over Ireland.
This was a speciality of his throughout his career with Leeds, Glasgow, Cardiff, Scotland and Connacht.
“I used to have a lot of conversations with my dad before playing pro sport, watching rugby league in particular, and then once we got into watching more rugby union, he couldn’t believe that you got three points for a drop goal,” says Parks.
“He just found it fascinating; he was like, ‘Why don’t people in rugby take more drop goals?’
“They can’t stop it if you’re good at something like that. You get in the pocket, it’s an easy three points. And if you’re defending, being disciplined and then some bloke just keeps kicking three, mate, it mentally frightens you.
“Right on the stroke of half-time in Croke Park, we’re in the sheds pumped up, the Irish are probably going, ‘You b*stard.’”
Though he happily broke Irish hearts that day, Parks always had major respect for Irish teams, regularly playing against them with Glasgow and Cardiff, as well as Scotland.
Indeed, a classy touch from that day in Croker stands out.
“Johnny was wonderful to me, very friendly after the game,” says Parks.
“We went to exchange jerseys, but he didn’t accept mine. He made it clear it was my day, and he wanted me to enjoy it.
“I just thought that was a really quality moment.”
Not that Parks always enjoyed playing against Irish teams.
“God, they got in my face big time one day in Murrayfield, but I loved it as long as there was respect after the game, which there was,” says Parks.
“There were some real tough competitors, Donncha O’Callaghan and Alan Quinlan, just tough guys, but as soon as you finish the game, it was nothing but respect.
“I always remember those guys because Munster, back when I was playing in Glasgow they were just in your face, so aggressive.
“I hated playing against them. I hated it because you know those types of blokes. But it was fun.”
Having played with Cardiff from 2010 until 2012, Parks got a call from then-Connacht assistant coach Billy Millard about coming to Ireland.
Millard, who is now back with Connacht as general manager, put Parks in touch with head coach Eric Elwood, who convinced the out-half to move, having retired from international rugby.
“At the time, Eric was potentially looking at if I wanted to retire after a couple of years with Connacht and go into a coaching role
“Eric was talking about where they’re wanting to go, what they’re wanting to achieve, how they’re wanting to build up the province. I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’
“That first year was one of the most enjoyable rugby experiences I had.”
Those were different times in Connacht. The impressive new stand at Dexcom Stadium and the high performance training centre that Stuart Lancaster’s team train in now would have been hard to imagine.
The old grass training pitch “was very unpleasant” when it rained, and the facilities were generally more rudimentary, but Parks loved getting stuck into helping Connacht improve.
“Part of my role initially was to help mentor the likes of Robbie, Kieran Marmion, and Tiernan O’Halloran,” says Parks.
“Now, what better three young fellas. Kieran was a wonderful player. Robbie, what a kid, and then Tiernan did some wonderful things, a great fellow off the field.
“Then there were the older heads: John Muldoon, Swifty, Gavin Duffy, Johnny O’Connor was there. Then you had the likes of Paulie O’Donoghue, who just kept things very entertaining.
“It was such a great group, a really well assembled group.”
Parks has huge regard for Connacht legend Elwood, who stepped aside from the head coach role at the end of the 2012/13 season.
Elwood remains integrally involved with Connacht now as academy manager.
“I think the very first game of rugby I played in Galway, Eric was the 10,” says Parks. “He would have been towards the end of his career, but he was just dictating terms, and I was going, ‘F*ck, this bloke’s killing us.’
“And working with him, first and foremost, there’s how much of a wonderful man he is.
“All the players had massive respect for him.”
Pat Lam came in as the boss in 2013, and Parks admits that it wasn’t as smooth a working relationship between them, although always respectful.
“Pat’s mindset was obviously a lot different to Eric’s. I guess for me as an older bloke, I probably didn’t see it as well as I saw Eric’s perspective because, let’s be honest, I went to Connacht because of Eric.
“Pat was so different, very intense. He obviously had an idea in his head about where this was going to go. He spoke really well, he spoke to the community well, he got the community right behind the club, which I thought was marvellous.”
Lam had a clear view of how Connacht should play, encouraging them to attack from everywhere with ball in hand, while Parks believed in more of a balanced game featuring more kicking.
Parks continued to play a central role in the team, even with Jack Carty beginning to break through and Miah Nikora another option at out-half.
And there was one particularly great day in that second season with Connacht when they beat the mighty Toulouse 16-14 at Stade Ernest Wallon in December 2013. It was a titanic victory in Connacht’s history.
“It was a famous win,” says Parks. “That was huge; it was a historic moment.”
Connacht later looked back on that Toulouse win as being one of the moments when they began to think that they could do something great under Lam, which happened when they won the Pro 12 in 2016.
Parks retired at the end of the 2013/14 season, but he stayed in Galway for that summer, which was a “wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable” way to finish his two-year spell in Ireland.
Parks initially did some TV work with Sky Sports in the UK but moved back to Australia and started down the coaching route in 2015 with club sides in Sydney, as well as having a stint as an assistant coach with Samoa in 2016. He also had his own kicking business.
In January 2017, his partner was pregnant, and Parks had a moment of realisation.
“Sh*t, I’ve actually gotta think about someone else now and try and plan for whatever the next 40 years looks like,” he thought to himself.
That’s when he ventured into the business world, and he now works for an insurance broking company called Aviso Specialty. He has found plenty of overlaps from professional rugby.
“What I’ve learned over time, all my years playing and all my years now in business, it’s not necessarily the business you’re in; it’s the people you’re with that make it interesting,” says Parks.
“The biggest crossover is relationships with people.”
Which is one reason Parks enjoyed catching up with Henshaw, and why this weekend’s game in Sydney is so exciting.
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Connacht Dan Parks Memories Sydney