IT’S PROBABLY TOO simplistic to look back on that evening in Stradbrook and mark it as the dawn of Jordan Larmour’s rise into one of Ireland’s scarily-talented wunderkinds, but certainly it is another example of why his prodigious emergence has surprised very few.
In his final year at St Andrew’s College, Larmour — the star of the school’s SCT team — was invited to play for a Blackrock College President’s XV against a touring side from New Zealand.
David Boyd, the then director of rugby at the Booterstown school, was in charge of putting the home team together and when short of a couple of players, asked Larmour and a four of his St Andrew’s team-mates — including Ireland U20 winger Peter Sullivan — to tog out in Blackrock colours for the evening.
Hamilton Boys High School, the prestigious New Zealand rugby institution which boasts Jared Payne amongst its alumni, won 26-22 but Larmour, wearing the number 13 jersey, stood out.
“I played alright I guess,” he smiles.
Among the interested spectators that evening was a certain Joe Schmidt, who had come down to catch up with a couple of familiar faces from back home among the touring party.
“Knowing he was in the crowd made me try to play a bit better,” Larmour admits.
“It was a cool feeling playing in front of him and afterwards I went up and got a picture with him, as a fan. I was chatting to him for a bit and I still have that picture at home.”
A couple of months later, Schmidt invited Larmour into camp to train with the Ireland squad ahead of their 2016 November series which, of course, included that famous victory over the All Blacks in Chicago.
It was clear Schmidt rated the former schoolboy hockey international highly but looking back, Larmour isn’t sure if he was on the Kiwi’s radar after that performance against Hamilton in April 2016.
“I haven’t really thought about that to be honest,” he says. “Maybe it was the start, I haven’t thought about it. Joe hasn’t said anything about it anyway.”
Either way, it’s remarkable to think that was just two years ago and in that time Larmour has bypassed pretty much every marker in his development to become a Grand Slam winner. Meteoric rise doesn’t really do it justice.
“I never thought it would get to this stage so quickly,” he concedes.
“I was only playing U20s last year and I remember just watching the senior team playing in their Six Nations, and I’ve always dreamt of being involved and playing for Ireland. I didn’t think it would happen this quickly, no, but I’m delighted it has.”
A product of the St Andrew’s programme spearheaded by David Jones, Charlie Doel and Ian Dumbleton, Larmour’s talent was nurtured and developed during his time in schools rugby and his potential was clear at underage level.
After earning a place in the Leinster sub-academy, he was the outstanding performer during Ireland’s U20 Six Nations campaign in 2017 and was set to star at the Junior World Championship in June but an ankle injury sustained on club duty with St Mary’s required surgery and meant he was sidelined for a number of weeks.
It actually proved to be a blessing in disguise as he was able to spend the summer working closely with the Leinster squad, resulting in a senior debut on the opening day of the Pro14 season.
“Looking back on it now it was probably a blessing, but at the time all I wanted to do was go to the World Cup with the U20s. I weighed both options up as I would have had to get surgery on my ankle after the World Cup if I managed to go as I was trying to rehab it without the surgery.
“Looking back now, I’m glad I got the surgery done as I had a full pre-season under my belt and got my first start for Leinster at the start of the season. I’m happy with how it worked out now.”
Needless to say.
A whirlwind seven months, and prodigious debut season, hit even dizzier heights last weekend as Larmour came off the bench to win his third cap at Twickenham, slotting into the outside centre position alongside Garry Ringrose.
It was another indication of the faith Schmidt has in the Leinster back and how highly he is rated because it would have been easy to move him out to the wing, and out of the firing line in a busy midfield channel. But Larmour has taken every challenge in his stride so far, exceeding almost every expectation, and Saturday was no different.
A Grand Slam winner at the age of 20.
“It was good, a crazy few days, a crazy season so far,” Larmour offers, still beaming with delight, struggling to comprehend everything that has happened.
“At the start of campaign I was just looking to get a cap. To get three caps and be involved in that Grand Slam winning team was pretty special. The whole week of the England game, there was a bit of hype.
“When we got there, and when I got on, everyone was just calm and we felt in control of the game. That was a big thing. Then when the final whistle went it was just an amazing feeling, and to see how much it meant to some of the senior players who had been trying for nine years. It was special.
“Some of the guys were laughing, saying that it’s not always this easy, and I know it’s not because I watched Ireland win the Grand Slam in 2009. Then nine years later, to see how much work [is involved] and how hard it is to go and win a Grand Slam, especially going away to France and England.
“We know it’s not going to be that easy every time. Hopefully there will be more to come.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
