ON A WINDSWEPT Monday morning in south Dublin the mood at Leinster training felt suitably refreshed.
The youthful faces stream through the gate, some putting boots on after ditching runners in the shed, others shoveling in the last chunks of a banana in for fuel.
With no game to play on the opening Six Nations weekend, the regime centered around heavy lifting in the gym.
The move back onto the field brings with it a freedom and giddy excitement.
The majority of those who bear the disappointment of a Heineken Cup exit have been able to take their frustration out, and their mind off it, in international camp.
What’s left is mix of youth and experience, each eager to feature against Cardiff Blues this Friday; the first of a run of fixtures where they hold the responsibility for sustaining the latest push for the Pro12 title.
They’re invigorated too by the presence of so many fit bodies. The injury crisis which stunted so much progress in the first half of the season – taking front-liners and back-ups alike – has finally eased.
Back row Dominic Ryan is one such body, with a low sun behind him his eyes are wild with intent to make an overdue mark on this season after rupturing an ankle ligament in the opening night loss in Llanelli.
“I remember thinking going into the start of September, away to Scarlets, Rhys (Ruddock) and Sean O’Brien weren’t going to be back until mid-October with hip injuries and Kev McLaughlin was still doing his pre-season. So there was massive opportunity through the whole of September and on to October – the Heineken Cup games.
“Then you get told you’re out for 14 weeks which rules you right out of all of them. All your personal goals and plans are just thrown out the window. “
Along with his back row colleagues, Ryan would often have had Eoin O’Malley, Luke Fitzgerald, Brian O’Driscoll, Dave and Rob Kearney for company. However, there is no comfort in numbers when you’re injured. It’s tough be alone in a treatment room and watching training from the sideline, but extra members in that club only reinforces the sense of missing out.
That, Ryan says, is where “The Brain Gym” comes in. There, there are no weights, no treadmill and no grunting: only the latest recruit to Declan Kidney’s backroom, Enda McNulty, and a couple of chairs.
“It’s very important in rugby to be able to ride the lows, not get too low, and when things are going well, just don’t get ahead of yourself. A lot of that comes from upstairs; we call it “The Mind Gym”. It’s maybe one of the aspects of rugby, and sport in general, that’s not tapped in to.
“We work with Enda McNulty as a psychologist and he’s very helpful. We’d maybe sit down with him every two to three weeks and go over where you’re at. What your goals are when you’re coming back from injury.
On the outside
“Even what your injury specific goals are week to week. What you hope to get to; walking, running, side-stepping, jumping. That sort of stuff.
“It is tough, being on the outside, seeing all the players and all the success going on where, maybe, you would have been playing. Players are in your position and you think: ‘Aw, I would have been doing that.’ But it’s hard to think like that.”
Ryan won’t need to think in ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ for much longer.
