THERE’S A MINIMALIST, pastel-coloured print of a map hanging framed on the wall behind Jamison Gibson-Park, and while The 42′s knowledge of New Zealand wouldn’t land us on Mastermind, we know enough to recognise the coastline in question is not that of Great Barrier Island, where the Leinster scrum-half spent the first 10 years of his life.
“That’s Gisborne,” explains Gibson-Park. “It wouldn’t be my home but it was pretty big in my upbringing. That’s where I went to high school, and where my folks live now.”
The Gisborne years are a fascinating part of Gibson-Park’s story. The town with a population of about 38,000 sits on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, and was home for Gibson-Park throughout his high school years. It was here where the man now viewed as one of the best scrum-halves in the world made his first significant breakthrough in rugby, but it was also where he temporarily became disillusioned with the sport.
“I had a pretty interesting journey through high school. I was pretty small and it was at the time where they wanted everyone to be massive. I got the whole ‘you’re not big enough’, all that craic. I actually stopped playing one year, around 15 or 16, where I just didn’t play and was giving other sports a crack.
Then I made it into the first 15 and it all really changed from there. I made it into a few representative teams. I didn’t think rugby would ever be a pathway for me until very late on in my high school career.
“But I did have some pretty awesome coaches there, some I still keep in touch with now who are still around doing their thing in Gizzy. I catch up with them every time I’m back. It would have been awesome to have some of them in the stands this week, but there’s hopefully a chance for that down the line somewhere.
“It’s pretty crazy to think I once gave it all up, but here we are.”
‘Here’ means having a Grand Slam to your name, not to mention a series win back in New Zealand, to go along with the drawer full of medals collected since joining Leinster in the summer of 2016. ’Here’ means Heineken Champions Cup final week. On Saturday Leinster welcome French opposition back to Dublin, as defending champions La Rochelle once again stand between the province and that elusive fifth star.
Leinster’s journey to this point of the season started just minutes after La Rochelle lifted the cup in Marseille 12 long months ago.
Gibson-Park thinks back to the scene at the Stade Vélodrome in the moments after the Leinster squad had swapped the colour and noise of La Rochelle’s on-pitch celebrations for the safety of the dressing room.
“It was silent for a long time. Obviously Leo (Cullen) and Stu (Lancaster) spoke, and Johnny (Sexton) as well, but to be honest you’re just in your own little world for a lot of that time, thinking what could have been. They’re tough moments, but they’ve shaped this season to a certain degree.”
The season, so far, reads played 27, won 24, drawn one, lost two, and on their run to the Champions Cup final, Leinster have looked close to untouchable.
Like so many of his teammates, Gibson-Park appears to be peaking at the perfect time. In the Champions Cup semi-final defeat of Toulouse the 31-year-old was at his influential best on a day where his opposite number, Antoine Dupont, had a more limited say on proceedings after being pushed out to out-half.
His high-tempo play and eye for a break have long been hallmarks of Gibson-Park’s game, but other areas are now growing sharper, too. In the wins against Ulster, Leicester and Toulouse across the Champions Cup knockout stages, his kicking has been superb – mixing some perfectly-executed box-kicks with well measured clearances and subtle chip-throughs.
“It’s one of those things that I’ve been on a bit of a journey with,” Gibson-Park continues.
“Having come from New Zealand into a game where a box-kicking nine is pretty important, it probably would never have been earlier in my career, and to be honest it probably wasn’t great. It’s something I’ve had to work on pretty hard and I’ve got some awesome help from Emmet Farrell, our kicking coach at Leinster, who’s been great, and then as well as that the other nines. I’ve learned so much from playing with Lukey (McGrath) and Conor Murray, guys who have got great box-kicking games.
“But it’s definitely been something I’ve had to work on.”
While the box-kicking has required hard work on the training pitch, the other aspects of his kicking game require a different type of attention. As part of his preparation for La Rochelle, Gibson-Park will study the tapes for areas that can be exploited, but on the day, he’ll also rely on instinct.
“There’s obviously a lot of video that we watch, looking for opportunities and that kind of thing, but things change and a lot of it is being able to adapt in the moment. It’s a bit of both.”
Knowing when to go off-script is only part of the challenge. You also need the confidence and clear-mindedness to pull it off when there’s bodies crashing into each other all around you.
I think that’s probably been my biggest area of growth over the last number of years, to be honest with you. Just trying to be calm in the middle of it all. It can be pretty chaotic at times so it’s just doing my best to stay calm and use my eyes and ears.
“So a bit of mindfulness. There’s all that kind of stuff, and then obviously we’ve had some pretty brilliant coaching over the years as well. It’s really helped my game in those kind of areas.
“In terms of mental skills then, the coaches we’ve had… Obviously Stu has been massive for my game and working with Faz (Andy Farrell) and Catty (Mike Catt), Felipe (Contepomi) was pretty awesome and now working with Andrew Goodman, I’ve had a lot of brilliant minds around, and then it’s working with players that have been there on the biggest days and the biggest stages. You have to do your best to soak up what they’ve got to offer.”
More than once, Gibson-Park highlights the work Leinster attack coach Andrew Goodman has done since arriving from the Crusaders last summer, his success in adding new layers to the province’s attacking game seeing him linked with new jobs before his first season back in Dublin has even come to a close.
“He’s been awesome and I’m looking forward to working with him for a little bit longer hopefully,” Gibson-Park says, hiding a wry smile. “I think the Crusaders are trying to get him back but we’ll do our best to hold on to him.
“He’s obviously a brilliant coach and he’s brought our game on a lot. When you look at it from an individual point of view, he’s brought a lot of guys on, which has obviously helped our game tremendously.
“He would have watched a lot of Leinster (before he joined), as in he would have tried to take stuff from Leinster and implement it at the Crusaders. (When he arrived) we had a few good conversations around what I could have done (in certain situations), these are the pictures you’re looking for, all that kind of stuff.
“(Developing) Your skillset is obviously a massive part of it, but that’s a given in any good team, so it’s decision-making – he’s pretty big on that.”
Then there’s the other men in the Leinster coaching box. Head coach Leo Cullen was the one who brought Gibson-Park over from New Zealand back in 2016, the same year a certain Stuart Lancaster arrived in Dublin. When the current season draws to a close, Lancaster will pack his bags and head for Paris.
When asked to identify the one aspect of his game Lancaster has had the greatest influence on, Gibson-Park takes a moment to consider the options.
“Speed probably. He pushed me and the other nines pretty hard, early. We probably thought he was a bit crazy to begin with, some of the stuff he was asking of us.
“I think he’s shaped all of us in many ways as players. I’m obviously grateful to Stu for all he’s done for me and for Leinster. He’s been awesome over the last seven years.
“We’ve been on a bit of a journey together.”
A journey which could, they hope, arrive at another one of the great days for Leinster Rugby this weekend.
Heineken’s ‘Love Rivalry’ campaign encourages sports fans, and non-sports fans alike, to enjoy some friendly rivalry this Spring as Dublin gets set to host the Heineken Champions Cup Final in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 20th May.
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