THE LAST TIME New Zealand came to Dublin Ronan Kelleher made his way to the Aviva Stadium’s West Stand as a fan. His father sourced the tickets, Kelleher junior digging into his pocket to pay back his old man.
Now, just under two weeks from today, he’ll be one others will fork out money to see.
As he thought about that 2018 All Blacks game this week, memories of another one, the 2013 encounter, also came flooding back, Jack McGrath penalised with 20 seconds remaining, Ryan Crotty’s try with 81 minutes and 27 seconds on the clock, the retaken conversion from Aaron Cruden, the 24-22 defeat, the contrast in emotions.
Now it’s him. Japan this Saturday, then New Zealand a week later. He’s no longer a kid with a ticket in his hand and a dream in his head.
He’s Ronan Kelleher, 23-years-old, winner of 13 caps, scorer of five tries – a record-equalling four of which came in one match this June – and someone deemed good enough by Warren Gatland to be taken to South Africa as a back-up hooker.
He looks fresh-faced but talks like an old man. “For us, it’s just about getting consistency,” he says. “That is a big area of growth for us; one we’re working towards that over the last two campaigns and the underlying theme for this campaign is to continuously improve.”
They have. Hard to believe now but it’s nearly a year since Ireland’s horror-show in Georgia, a disaster averted by luck as much as anything. Since then Ireland were unfortunate against Wales, cursed against France, good in Italy, so-so against the Scots then superb against England.
They know there’s no going back after that England win. That’s their benchmark. In one, admittedly lengthy sentence, Kelleher mentioned the word consistency four times.
That’s what the All Blacks possess. As a kid, he recalls waking early on a Saturday to watch their games in the Rugby Championship, a constant ritual before training started. Dane Coles was a star, Jonah Lomu a bigger one. But Kelleher’s hero? “I think it was more Keith Wood than anyone else.”
As a schoolboy Kelleher played everywhere in the pack. Then, aged 15, Brian O’Meara, his coach, switched him to hooker. “Obviously I’m glad now that he tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to move,” he says.
Andy Farrell is even happier with that decision. He has options now at No2. The steady-as-she-goes Rob Herring; the dynamic Leinster duo of Kelleher and Dan Sheehan; and that’s before we mention Dave Heffernan, who is having an excellent season at Connacht.
Still, out of that quartet, only one travelled to South Africa with the Lions. “It was a great experience,” Kelleher says of a tour where he trained hard but never got the chance to play. “To go from nowhere, to not be in the squad, then brought out to train alongside them is still a really positive experience. Ultimately it also told me that I’m not far off. That was one of the big takeaways from it. I felt confident out there.”
That self-belief travelled home. He has started the season well with Leinster, remembering Gatland’s feedback from South Africa, how the men ahead of him in the queue got there on the back of their experience. “That was the big thing, they’d done it in big games over years.”
He, in contrast, had done it over months. Still, he’s an eager student. Paul O’Connell is mentoring him, advising him to be physical and vocal. “It is almost about not going into your shell,” Kelleher says.
One lesson, though, came from a rival rather than a coach. Heffernan, his Connacht counterpart, articulated the emotional conflict every hooker goes through. One minute they are in the thick of it, bashing into players, hitting rucks, and the next they are on a touchline, breathing through their nostrils as they prepare to throw to a line-out.
“The way Dave put it was spot on,” says Kelleher, “how we are in a boxing match and then told to step away and asked to perform something very technical.
“That has always stuck with me.
“As a hooker, you can’t get too bogged down, especially if a throw doesn’t go your way because there are multiple factors that might have played into it.
“So you can’t really be over-analysing it as you go. You just have to kind of park it and move on and then focus on the next throw when it comes.
“It is about calming the mind, knowing you just have to keep going, that you can’t get rattled, that you just have to stick to it.”
Japan will test his composure first, then a week later it’s the All Blacks. All eyes will be on him, then, the boy who has gone from the circle seats to the stage.
* Canterbury, the official kit partner to Irish Rugby, has revealed the new Ireland Rugby jerseys – see Elverys.ie and Canterbury.com
