JAMISON GIBSON-PARK has revealed that Saturday’s Test victory over the All Blacks in Wellington was the best moment of his career.
The scrum-half has been a revelation since he was promoted by Andy Farrell to the Ireland starting XV, at a time when he was a back-up to Luke McGrath at Leinster.
Prior to then he was floating around Super Rugby, with the Blues and Hurricanes, winning a Super Rugby title in this city in 2016 before he was headhunted by Leinster. Back then, though, he was a fringe operator and uncapped in international terms. Now he is a starting nine for a team that has just gone top of the world rankings.
“The best moment of my career by far,” said Gibson-Park. “I mean I have had some special moments over my career and this was definitely the best, it was pretty surreal when the final whistle went; obviously I didn’t play a massive part the year we won Super Rugby so I suppose that has a little bit to do with it as well. Saturday was a pretty amazing feeling.
“We are unbelievably grateful for the support from the people back in Ireland and even for those in the crowd over the last couple of weeks. It has just been really amazing to see Irish people walking the streets around Auckland, Dunedin and Wellington, knowing they’re here to support us. I hope they are proud of us.”
That was never in doubt as the fans stayed long after the final whistle to celebrate with a team who became just the fifth to win a series here after the Lions, Australia, Springboks and French.
“It is incredible to have done that especially after losing the first Test in Eden Park. These have been an unreal four weeks, one I will look back on fondly. We really enjoyed Dunedin, a lot of lads said it was one of the best stadiums they had ever been in, our confidence grew after that and we got the job done.
“We obviously came down here with the intention to win; it has been a bit of a slog, we have had a tricky time, a couple of midweek games, it is a testament to everyone involved, not just the players but the management that we did what we did. It is hard to put into words how awesome it is. It is just a hell of a buzz man, I am really stoked.”