FOLLOWING LEINSTER’S HEINEKEN Champions Cup quarter-final defeat of Leicester Tigers, an interesting question was put to Leo Cullen.
Looking towards a tantalising Leinster versus Toulouse semi-final match-up, a member of the assembled English press pack asked the Leinster coach if he would currently swap his star scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park for French maestro Antoine Dupont.
There was a playfulness to the remark, but it also provided an indication of the esteem in which Gibson-Park is currently held. It’s not long since he was battling for a starting spot in the Leinster team. Now he’s viewed as one of the premier nines in the northern hemisphere.
It’s been quite the rise for a player who landed on these shores to little acclaim in 2016. It took time for Gibson-Park to settle into a new environment, and even longer to fully believe he belonged at the highest level.
This weekend he travels to Marseille for a Heineken Champions Cup final as the beating heartbeat of a Leinster team who have brushed aside all-comers with ease, his energy and accuracy on the pitch central to how the province look to play.
“Certainly when I first got here, I wouldn’t have seen myself getting to this level and playing for Ireland,” Gibson-Park says. “It’s been pretty unreal and hopefully there’s still a bit more to go. It’s been a bit of a journey.”
Last season Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster outlined that he felt Gibson-Park arrived from New Zealand with the mindset “that he was always the number two.” He’s clearly playing with more confidence now, establishing himself as Andy Farrell’s first choice scrum-half for Ireland, but explains that he’s also put more focus into improving him overall game.
“Application probably. I think just with age and a little bit of maturity now, I suppose you just start to care more about the day to day, building better habits and that sort of stuff,” he continues. “I think that’s probably what I put a lot of the rise down to.
“I suppose leadership is probably the other big thing. I’ve had the privilege of working with some pretty unbelievable rugby brains over the last five, six years, and I’ve certainly learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot about myself and a lot about the game as well.
“Obviously I have to thank those guys a lot, Stu and Leo (Cullen), and obviously having worked with players like Johnny (Sexton) and Isa (Nacewa). I have to give a lot of credit to them as well.”
Born on New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island, there wasn’t much rugby union in Gibson-Park’s family, with “my dad, his dad and then my mum’s dad as well” all coming from rugby league backgrounds.
The young Gibson-Park instead excelled on the running track, that background coming in handy when rugby eventually began to take over.
“I won a few races and stuff over the years, but when I was much younger. I suppose the later on in school I got, the more rugby took over. “
I used to like running, believe it or not. During school I was pretty handy at the old cross country and stuff. But I was very small. I was 60 kilos dripping wet when I left school, pretty much. Hadn’t touched a weight in my life, so it was easy for me to do those (running) tests (when I started playing rugby). I was a skinny little fellah, probably built more for running than I was for rugby.
“Then I put on probably 20 kilos and it got a little bit harder to run. That’s probably where it (fitness) comes from, just running over the years, and in school I was into a lot of other sports, not just rugby.”
Gibson-Park eventually started to climb the ladder. He played his provincial rugby with Taranaki and joined the Blues in 2013, then spent a season with the Hurricanes before Leinster came calling three years later.
Cue a journey to the other side of the world, and sharing a pitch with his new half-back partner, one Johnny Sexton. It was an interesting experience for the laid-back, understated Gibson-Park.
I was obviously a nervous wreck the first few times! Either training with him or against him, he’s always competitive. You guys have heard about him, so it’s always just looking for the best.
“I spend nearly every day with him. I don’t know, I don’t want to sound like I’m blowing his trumpet too much but his intellect is just, he sees the game so early. He goes about his business, he’s probably the most driven (player) I’ve ever seen, especially for someone his age, he just turns up every day. With Johnny the understanding of the game is on another level, a joy to work with really.”
Both Gibson-Park and Sexton missed last year’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat to La Rochelle through injury, and their presence for this weekend’s final against the same opposition in Marseille could prove decisive.
Sexton rolled back the years again against Toulouse while Gibson-Park has been consistently excellent, delivering a man of the match display against Leicester at Welford Road.
It’s a good time to be in form. As well as fighting on two fronts with Leinster, Gibson-Park is set to travel back to New Zealand this summer for Ireland’s three-Test series against the All Blacks. Those games should provide the 30-year-old’s family with a first opportunity to see him play for Ireland.
“Getting the chance to go back down there and play in front of family, which I haven’t had the chance to do yet, would be incredible. With the pandemic, no one has really had the chance yet,” Gibson-Park explains, before quickly correcting himself – “My girlfriend, I better mention her.”
He’ll hope to make the trip with a second Champions Cup medal in his pocket, having come off the bench for the final 20 minutes of the 2018 win over Racing.
“It’s going pretty well I suppose,” he adds, delivering one of the understatements of the year as he reflects on his season to date.
“But I suppose it doesn’t really count for much unless we get the job done.”
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