SEEING CJ STANDER line out against Wales last weekend brought back plenty of wonderful memories for former Ireland captain Dion O’Cuinneagain. It’s easy to understand why.
The similarities are numerous; both versatile back-rowers were born in South Africa, where they were told they weren’t big enough to make it as Springboks.
The pair also captained their native land, Stander at U20 and O’Cuinneagain at sevens level before going on to represent Ireland.
“Yeah, it (seeing Stander make his debut) brought back memories. He was told he was too small and he couldn’t make it as a player, which was a similar experience to what I had,” O’Cuinneagain told The42.
“Unless you’re a 115kg ball-carrying number eight or a blindside or an openside, you’re not going to make it.”
O’Cuinneagain, despite working as a GP in Cape Town these days, remains a keen follower of Irish rugby, and was very impressed with Stander’s debut.
“He showed last weekend that he is big enough for international rugby and I think he put on a great performance.
“He’s done well for Munster, he’s a good ball carrier and he certainly seems to have fitted into the Irish culture, which is fantastic.”
O’Cuinneagain, who played 19 times for Ireland, seven as captain, qualified to represent the country through his proud Irish father Connell, a dentist from Dublin. Stander, of course, wears the green under the residency rule.
For all the similarities, O’Cuinneagain and Stander are very different players. The former, being a sevens athlete, was blessed with incredible speed while power is Stander’s primary asset.
“I like his style of play, I think he’s a little bit more abrasive than I was,” O’Cuinneagain added.
“I was a little bit taller and played a bit wider than him. But his style of play will allow him to cover all three positions in the back row quite comfortably.
“On the weekend he had good hands and he also put a lot of pressure on the ball. But I thought all the Irish loose forwards played well last weekend.”
It wasn’t just Stander who impressed O’Cuinneagain though.
“It was nice to see Jamie Heaslip put in a big performance. For me, he’s been a bit quiet for the past six months.
I don’t think he had a standout World Cup, which I was hoping he would because I think he’s one of the best number eights in the world. Against Wales, he was very good.
There was little reaction to Stander’s debut in South Africa but there has been some talk this week. And he expects many more will be tuning in to see how the Munster man performs against France.
“The reaction was quite quiet in South Africa,” he explained.
“There’s a well-known broadcaster here called Matthew Pearce and he covers a lot of Springbok rugby.
“And I saw Matt for drinks last Friday night and he said, ‘shit, CJ’s getting his debut on Sunday’ and we just started talking about it. But very few other people actually paid much attention to it.
“But I think a lot more people will be watching him against France after last weekend’s performance.”
Lifelong
O’Cuinneagain, who played with Sale Sharks for three years before a season at Ulster (1999/2000) and a brief stint at Munster in 2001, has had a lifelong attachment to Irish rugby, stemming from his childhood. It’s ingrained; he still watches as many provincial games and internationals as he can.
“I end up watching more of Ulster’s games than Leinster’s and Munster’s in the Champions Cup because I was involved with Ulster for longer.
“But generally I will try and watch Ireland’s Six Nations games and I certainly watched all of the Rugby World Cup games.”
The 43-year-old chuckles as he explains how that passion for Irish rugby has already been passed on to the next O’Cuinneagain generation.
“Growing up with my dad, I watched most of the Irish Test matches from South Africa. It was just part of what we did growing up.
“I have two 12-year-old twin daughters who are passionate Irish fans as well. We were sitting down on the couch last weekend and they were screaming and hurling abuse at the Welsh.”
O’Cuinneagain seemed to do everything at frightening speed. He made his Test debut against his native South Africa in Bloemfontein in June 1998 and just a year later was Ireland captain on their tour to Australia, when Brian O’Driscoll made his international debut and Warren Gatland was the head coach.
His departure from Irish rugby seemed to come about just as fast. A gut-wrenching end to the 1999 Rugby World Cup following Ireland’s quarter-final playoff exit at the hands of Argentina saw the national team begin a major transition. And forever linked the French city of Lens, and the name of Argentina wing Diego Albanese, with misery for Irish rugby fans.
O’Cuinneagain picked up a serious wrist injury the following July and by December 2000 the back-rower had returned to South Africa to continue his medical studies.
Gatland looked towards youth, famously naming five debutants in the Ireland side to take on Scotland in the 2000 Six Nations, the first edition of the tournament with the Italians.
Famously, those debutants were Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer, John Hayes, Shane Horgan and Simon Easterby, who would all go on to carve out lengthy and successful international careers.
In their wake were a number of seasoned internationals, many of whom, including Eric Elwood, current women’s coach Tom Tierney and wing Matt Mostyn, never played much international rugby for Ireland again. But O’Cuinneagain, who was just 27 at the time, saw it as a natural progression.
“I think after every World Cup there is a clean-out and we didn’t have our most successful World Cup,” he recalled.
“For myself, I broke my wrist and also wanted to finish my medicine studies; I came back for three games, got myself back into the Irish squad, got a Test, and then smashed my wrist, which put me out for year. So I went back to medicine and called it a day.
“Jeremy Davidson, Davie Wallace, Eric Miller, Malcolm O’Kelly and David Humphreys — they still went on to play for another few years after that.
Ronan O’Gara obviously came into the fore with (Peter) Stringer and they were the new guys getting blooded.
“And Brian O’Driscoll and (Gordon) D’Arcy started to establish themselves as THE world-class centres for the next six years, I would say.
“It was a big transition. But that was one of the things that Gatland did get right; he brought through a whole lot of youngsters, like Davie Wallace, Brian O’Driscoll, Malcolm O’Kelly and Gordon D’Arcy and they were experienced internationals by the age of 23 or 24. And that stood Ireland in good stead for a long period of time.”
Honour
O’Cuinneagain recalls his Irish days with nothing but fondness. You get the impression that he would happily recount tales of the good ol’ days for hours on end.
For all the pain of the 1999 World Cup, there were plenty of special moments too, including a Test match against Wales at Wembley while the Millennium Stadium was being built.
“It was a huge honour to play for Ireland,” O’Cuinneagain adds.
“My first cap was special and every cap thereafter was very, very special.
“I played with some incredible players.
I captained Brian O’Driscoll in his first test. And he went on to be a great captain and a legend.
“And to play with a guy like Keith Wood was obviously very special. You had guys like David Humphreys too, we had some great players.”
It’s a timely reminder of Warren Gatland’s longevity that he was O’Cuinnegain’s Ireland coach 17 years ago. And looking back, it is obvious to the former Ireland captain that the Kiwi still had a long way to go to become the widely-respected coach he has today.
“Warren Gatland was our coach at the time, he was still learning his trade. I feel that he’s a fantastic coach now but I think he was possibly a bit inexperienced when he was with Ireland.
“I think if he had that same bunch of players with the experience he has now he would have got more out of it than he did at that stage.
“But for me, to be involved with the Ireland side for three years was a great honour.”
After those memorable years in the green of Ireland, surely O’Cuinneagain is still in touch with his former team-mates?
“Yes, I had Paul Wallace come out and stay with me during the Rugby World Cup. He came out and did some commentary out here. And then I caught up with him in London.
“I spoke to Conor O’Shea a bit there, too. I also caught up with (former Ulster and Ireland team-mates) Paddy Johns, Andy Ward and Simon Best over the World Cup.
“Distance is always difficult but everyone knows when they come to Cape Town, like the Toppings (also Ulster team-mates) — Jamie and Derek — that they have a place to stay.”
Involvement
O’Cuinneagain did have a spell as South Africa’s sevens manager, alongside one Chester Williams, but has had to take a back-step from the game due to his work as a GP.
The last exposure I had to coaching was with Chester Williams and a little bit with Jake White on the fringes but I haven’t been involved since.
“I’m working full-time in medicine now. It’s just too much travel and things like that. I do see a few of the rugby players who have an interest in sports medicine but I’m not involved with any of the management teams.”
But O’Cuinneagain is happy being a fan these days, that much is obvious. Rugby is in his blood and close to his heart.
It’s no surprise that news of Ireland’s three-test June tour to South Africa was greeted with glee in the O’Cuinneagain household. The preparation has already begun.
“I’m actually just trying to work my timetable out at the moment because there is a game in Cape Town, which is fantastic. And there is one in PE (Port Elizabeth), so I think I will try and make those two games.
“It will be a good test series and I think a good building block for Ireland for the next four years as they look towards the next World Cup.
“Ireland are out for three weeks so hopefully that will attract some people out here.”
Something tells me he’ll have no shortage of visitors.
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