IT HASN’T QUITE been the full about-turn in fortunes that Joe Tomane had hoped for, but a year into his spell with Leinster he feels he has successfully rediscovered his love for professional rugby.
The Australian, as he puts it, was ‘on the outs’ with Montpellier in the 2017/18 season, the constraints of the Jiff selection policy tightening around the Top 14 side and Tomane’s contract was one they needed off their books.
The Wallaby wing-turned-centre asked his agent to suss out if Leinster were in need of a versatile international back, effectively making a move to Ireland happen for himself rather than rest on his heels hoping.
“I guess I sort of lost my love of the game,” says the 29-year-old, “I wanted to go somewhere where I knew it could reignite my love and passion for the game.
Off the field, it’s been a success. Tomane even jokes he ‘likes the cold’, likening the weather to the temperate climes of Canberra. However, injury continued to stalk the 29-year-old. His debut season was chopped in two distinct pieces due to a hamstring injury that left him out of action for over four months from November to March. Frustration, but a manageable one compared to what he experienced in France having undergone knee surgery only to break his leg on his return to action.
“Obviously, my first season (with Leinster) didn’t go to plan with the injury and all that, but it’s just been a huge blessing to be part of this group,” says Tomane.
He has to rack his brain a touch to recall a run of time and form when injury was not a hurdle – increasingly, that is the lot of rugby players, the trade-off they must accept to ‘live the dream’ – he remembers 2015 as his salad days, adorned as it was by a World Cup run with Australia.
“It took me a while to settle in to France and I had a couple of other niggling injuries from the surgeries and that, and that’s where I guess I was a little bit disheartened that things weren’t going the way I thought they would. And then I come here first season and have hamstring surgery,” he adds with a wry laugh.
“But there’s something special about this group that makes you realise how lucky you are.
“It was easy (to be positive) because the guys were real positive as well. We tend to feed off each other and I was able to feed off all their energy and remain positive and, I guess, look at the bigger picture.
“And, touch wood, I’ll stay injury free and continue to grow as a player.”
After Conor O’Brien and Rory O’Loughlin ran in the centre roles during last Friday’s win over the Dragons, Tomane looks set to start his fifth match of the young season when the reigning champions travel to face Connacht this Friday.
He has experience of the Sportsground, playing in Leinster’s impressively assured 3-20 win over the western province early last season. Leo Cullen won’t have quite the same number of front-line stars to choose from, but he will give some of Leinster’s World Cup contingent their chance to play away some of the pain from that experience.
“It’s so good to have them back, but they’re all fully focused on winning for Leinster now, which is good. And we’ve been able to build a platform for them to come back in and settle in nicely.
“We’re going to be growing, which is good, and we’ll be focused on winning as many game as we can now.”
“We’ve had a good start to the season, I’m happy to have got five wins on the trot but the competition goes up higher now and this is probably the part where we would define our season.”
