AT THE VERY start, Sam Illo wasn’t even all that keen on rugby.
He first played the sport with Longford RFC, but it was at Wesley College in Dublin where he really found his rugby feet, later rather than sooner.
“He sort of bucked against the rugby a little bit at the start,” says Iain Wallace, who was Illo’s rugby coach and boarding master at the school.
“Football was his big thing, so it was football, tennis, cricket, anything going really.
“He was an athlete despite eventually being 115kg or whatever he is. He could move.So you could give him a tennis racket, he was good. Give him a football, he was good.”
Illo remains a big tennis and football fan, supporting Chelsea, but things have worked out just fine on the rugby front.
The 25-year-old will make his Ireland debut off the bench against Japan on Saturday in Newcastle, capping off an outstanding season that has seen him make waves with Connacht.
Illo’s first cap will make a lot of people who helped him along the way very proud.
His parents are Nigerian, and there was no family history in rugby, but that changed when Illo followed his older sister by going to boarding school at Wesley College.
The family subsequently moved to Bray, but with his mum taking regular trips back to Nigeria, it was decided that it would be best for Sam to remain a boarder at Wesley.
Wallace says it was when Illo was in fourth year that they truly realised how much potential he had.
“He was just a different athletic profile to what we’d normally come across, you could see there was something there,” says Wallace. “He had the size obviously, but he could move, he had pace as well.”
Illo was still playing in the back row at that stage, mainly at number eight, but when he got involved in the Leinster North East squad, there was a sense that his future could lie in the front row.
Wallace credits Colin O’Hare, a Leinster development officer who had previously helped Josh van der Flier to make it from Wesley into the pro game, as being among those who saw Illo’s potential.
“Sam was a bit reluctant to move to front row at first, but I suppose they looked at the sheer size of him and thought, ‘Tighthead,’” says Wallace.
Illo initially moved to loosehead, then across to tighthead. It helped that Wallace himself had played in the front row.
“You were trying to just get him competent enough, and being a smaller school and a smaller playing pool, we still used him at number eight quite a bit.
“But we came to an agreement with him and with Leinster to try and get him 20 minutes or half an hour in the front row every match and gradually build it up from there.”
Illo has had a brilliant season under Stuart Lancaster in Connacht. Steve Haag Sports / EJ Langer/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / EJ Langer/INPHO / EJ Langer/INPHO
Wesley College has a good rugby programme, which is now run by former Connacht out-half Craig Ronaldson, but there isn’t a huge list of former students who have made it as professionals.
Ireland and Lions back rows Eric Miller and van der Flier were the poster boys, so there was at least a pathway for Illo to follow.
It just took the man himself some convincing to really go for it. Illo was a bit of a messer in school, and he didn’t always take his rugby seriously. He also lacked some self-belief.
Advertisement
“We had to push him fairly hard and there were probably times where he was cursing me where I’d be kicking him out of bed on a Saturday morning to go to the gym,” says Wallace.
“I remember at one stage in fifth or sixth year he had an Irish trial and he said he had a bit of a cold, didn’t want to go. I more or less put him in the car and drove him there to make sure he got that opportunity.
“He knew he had talent to a point, but I don’t know that he thought he could push on to the next level.
“I still see kids now going to Irish Schools or Leinster Schools trials when they’re outside those bigger rugby schools, and there can be a little bit of imposter syndrome going on.
“There’s not as many familiar faces, so you need to be a strong personality to push yourself forward.”
But Leinster could clearly see that Illo had talent and athleticism.
Illo came onto Leinster academy manager Simon Broughton’s radar when he was 17.
“He was showing a lot of talent, albeit raw,” says Broughton. “It was his physical characteristics around his ball-carrying and, particularly, he always found himself in open space for whatever reason.
“He would be on the end of a tip pass, or he’d get an inside ball, which meant that he was always supporting the player. He had a bit of a knack for finding himself in the right place at the right time.
“And then he’d be bursting out in the open field. Everyone would be looking around going, ‘Who’s this big fella running in open space?’ which is always fun. His explosive nature is a pretty strong asset of his.”
Broughton and Wallace agree that Illo’s family were crucial in helping him to really commit to being a professional rugby player.
As Illo became involved in Leinster’s sub-academy programme, the province looked to make sure his family felt involved, given that they didn’t really know how professional rugby worked. It was also important to highlight how big a chance Illo had.
“They probably began to understand how these young men can thrive, not only in Leinster but across the whole system,” says Broughton. “Rugby gives you lots of good things to move your life forward with.”
Illo and Wesley won the Vinnie Murray Cup in 2018. Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
Wallace says that Illo’s older brother was and remains a particularly positive influence in his life, doing a lot of looking after Sam when they were younger.
Illo decided to study property and real estate when he finished school, and there was a balance to be found between all the different parts of his life.
Figuring it out is difficult for any young person at this stage of their life, all the more when you throw in being part of Leinster’s academy system. Broughton says he was always happy to help Illo to nail down his weekly schedule.
Having joined Old Wesley RFC in the AIL after school, Illo took a big step forward when he played for the Ireland U20s in 2021, starting four of their five games in the Six Nations and underlining to Connacht that they should make a move for him.
Cullie Tucker was the U20s forwards coach at that stage, as well as working with Connacht, and he helped to convince Illo that there would be better opportunities for him to play senior rugby there than in his native Leinster.
Illo agreed to join Connacht, but there was a challenging settling-in period for him in Galway. He wanted to keep playing his club rugby with Old Wesley and be around his friends. And it didn’t help that Illo wasn’t driving at this stage.
“For the early parts, he was travelling back on a bus,” says Wallace. “He had a really strong friend group in Dublin, so he would often be on the bus coming back, a couple of times a month just to make sure he stayed connected with them.”
It took Illo a few seasons to get rolling in Connacht, and he has since admitted that he needed to become a better professional.
He only got two senior starts in his first four seasons in the west, but he was working hard in the background with Tucker and co. And when Stuart Lancaster came in as head coach this season, things really took off for Illo.
13 starts in this campaign were enough to convince Andy Farrell to bring him on Ireland’s Nations Championship tour ahead of his experienced Connacht team-mate Finlay Bealham.
So Illo’s move from Leinster to Connacht has worked out beautifully, and Broughton says everyone in Leinster is happy for him.
“We always wish that they could remain in Leinster, but I’m delighted and proud that he’s gone on and represented himself and his family well,” says Broughton.
“We’re all in the same game. All of our goal is to produce players that go on and play for Ireland. Even though we have this really cool tribalism within the system – which for someone coming from New Zealand, we’ve lost that a little bit – but I still love the idea of us being friends off the field.
“So although we would love to have him in Leinster, you have to celebrate that we helped him on the way, and he’s gone on to put a green jersey on.”
Broughton praises Tucker for the influence he has had on Illo’s scrummaging, which was a big focus for Aaron Dundon in the Leinster system when Illo was still there.
Illo in action for the Ireland U20s in 2021. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
This has been the biggest development in Illo’s game that Broughton has seen with Connacht, helped by playing against older props in the AIL for Old Wesley and then Buccaneers.
“Our research shows that it probably takes four years to build up enough experience to be able to give a prop an opportunity to get to the international level,” says Broughton.
“So Irish props are generally being exposed to international rugby around 24 or 25. And it just takes time in that position.”
Wallace watched on with pride when Illo and Billy Bohan, who will also make his debut against Japan, more than held their own against World Cup-winning Springboks props Ox Nché and Vincent Koch of the Sharks in the Challenge Cup this season.
And he has been delighted to see Illo’s mobility and speed around the pitch coming back into play under Lancaster.
“That was a part of Sam’s game I hadn’t seen for a while,” says Wallace. “His ball-carrying, his footwork and stuff like that was always a huge part of his game.
“I think that’s come back to the fore a bit this year. I don’t know whether it’s Lancaster or the style of play or what, but it’s good to see him involved a bit more around the pitch. He has so much to offer.”
Broughton is proud to see that Illo doesn’t appear to have changed much, still bringing his own distinctive personality. He remembers that Illo was always a trend-setter when it came to his fashion, which has seemingly continued.
He recalls great conversations with Illo about football, his family, and how rugby could be a long career for him.
“He’s a good guy,” says Broughton.
Wallace echoes that and says everyone from Wesley College is watching on with pride.
“Sam is still a young man, but he has matured an awful lot in the last year or two,” says Wallace. “He keeps in touch and he’d be very good about doing things like dropping his old gear into school. The lads here just love that. It’s probably swimming on them, but they love a pair of tracksuit bottoms or whatever. It makes their day.
“In the school now, Craig has this mantra with the lads that ‘better people are better players,’ and that’s what Sam is.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
3 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'Sam was a different athletic profile to what we'd come across'
AT THE VERY start, Sam Illo wasn’t even all that keen on rugby.
He first played the sport with Longford RFC, but it was at Wesley College in Dublin where he really found his rugby feet, later rather than sooner.
“He sort of bucked against the rugby a little bit at the start,” says Iain Wallace, who was Illo’s rugby coach and boarding master at the school.
“Football was his big thing, so it was football, tennis, cricket, anything going really.
“He was an athlete despite eventually being 115kg or whatever he is. He could move. So you could give him a tennis racket, he was good. Give him a football, he was good.”
Illo remains a big tennis and football fan, supporting Chelsea, but things have worked out just fine on the rugby front.
The 25-year-old will make his Ireland debut off the bench against Japan on Saturday in Newcastle, capping off an outstanding season that has seen him make waves with Connacht.
Illo’s first cap will make a lot of people who helped him along the way very proud.
His parents are Nigerian, and there was no family history in rugby, but that changed when Illo followed his older sister by going to boarding school at Wesley College.
The family subsequently moved to Bray, but with his mum taking regular trips back to Nigeria, it was decided that it would be best for Sam to remain a boarder at Wesley.
Wallace says it was when Illo was in fourth year that they truly realised how much potential he had.
“He was just a different athletic profile to what we’d normally come across, you could see there was something there,” says Wallace. “He had the size obviously, but he could move, he had pace as well.”
Illo was still playing in the back row at that stage, mainly at number eight, but when he got involved in the Leinster North East squad, there was a sense that his future could lie in the front row.
Wallace credits Colin O’Hare, a Leinster development officer who had previously helped Josh van der Flier to make it from Wesley into the pro game, as being among those who saw Illo’s potential.
“Sam was a bit reluctant to move to front row at first, but I suppose they looked at the sheer size of him and thought, ‘Tighthead,’” says Wallace.
Illo initially moved to loosehead, then across to tighthead. It helped that Wallace himself had played in the front row.
“You were trying to just get him competent enough, and being a smaller school and a smaller playing pool, we still used him at number eight quite a bit.
“But we came to an agreement with him and with Leinster to try and get him 20 minutes or half an hour in the front row every match and gradually build it up from there.”
Wesley College has a good rugby programme, which is now run by former Connacht out-half Craig Ronaldson, but there isn’t a huge list of former students who have made it as professionals.
Ireland and Lions back rows Eric Miller and van der Flier were the poster boys, so there was at least a pathway for Illo to follow.
It just took the man himself some convincing to really go for it. Illo was a bit of a messer in school, and he didn’t always take his rugby seriously. He also lacked some self-belief.
“We had to push him fairly hard and there were probably times where he was cursing me where I’d be kicking him out of bed on a Saturday morning to go to the gym,” says Wallace.
“I remember at one stage in fifth or sixth year he had an Irish trial and he said he had a bit of a cold, didn’t want to go. I more or less put him in the car and drove him there to make sure he got that opportunity.
“He knew he had talent to a point, but I don’t know that he thought he could push on to the next level.
“I still see kids now going to Irish Schools or Leinster Schools trials when they’re outside those bigger rugby schools, and there can be a little bit of imposter syndrome going on.
“There’s not as many familiar faces, so you need to be a strong personality to push yourself forward.”
But Leinster could clearly see that Illo had talent and athleticism.
Illo came onto Leinster academy manager Simon Broughton’s radar when he was 17.
“He was showing a lot of talent, albeit raw,” says Broughton. “It was his physical characteristics around his ball-carrying and, particularly, he always found himself in open space for whatever reason.
“He would be on the end of a tip pass, or he’d get an inside ball, which meant that he was always supporting the player. He had a bit of a knack for finding himself in the right place at the right time.
“And then he’d be bursting out in the open field. Everyone would be looking around going, ‘Who’s this big fella running in open space?’ which is always fun. His explosive nature is a pretty strong asset of his.”
Broughton and Wallace agree that Illo’s family were crucial in helping him to really commit to being a professional rugby player.
As Illo became involved in Leinster’s sub-academy programme, the province looked to make sure his family felt involved, given that they didn’t really know how professional rugby worked. It was also important to highlight how big a chance Illo had.
“They probably began to understand how these young men can thrive, not only in Leinster but across the whole system,” says Broughton. “Rugby gives you lots of good things to move your life forward with.”
Wallace says that Illo’s older brother was and remains a particularly positive influence in his life, doing a lot of looking after Sam when they were younger.
Illo decided to study property and real estate when he finished school, and there was a balance to be found between all the different parts of his life.
Figuring it out is difficult for any young person at this stage of their life, all the more when you throw in being part of Leinster’s academy system. Broughton says he was always happy to help Illo to nail down his weekly schedule.
Having joined Old Wesley RFC in the AIL after school, Illo took a big step forward when he played for the Ireland U20s in 2021, starting four of their five games in the Six Nations and underlining to Connacht that they should make a move for him.
Cullie Tucker was the U20s forwards coach at that stage, as well as working with Connacht, and he helped to convince Illo that there would be better opportunities for him to play senior rugby there than in his native Leinster.
Illo agreed to join Connacht, but there was a challenging settling-in period for him in Galway. He wanted to keep playing his club rugby with Old Wesley and be around his friends. And it didn’t help that Illo wasn’t driving at this stage.
“For the early parts, he was travelling back on a bus,” says Wallace. “He had a really strong friend group in Dublin, so he would often be on the bus coming back, a couple of times a month just to make sure he stayed connected with them.”
It took Illo a few seasons to get rolling in Connacht, and he has since admitted that he needed to become a better professional.
He only got two senior starts in his first four seasons in the west, but he was working hard in the background with Tucker and co. And when Stuart Lancaster came in as head coach this season, things really took off for Illo.
13 starts in this campaign were enough to convince Andy Farrell to bring him on Ireland’s Nations Championship tour ahead of his experienced Connacht team-mate Finlay Bealham.
So Illo’s move from Leinster to Connacht has worked out beautifully, and Broughton says everyone in Leinster is happy for him.
“We always wish that they could remain in Leinster, but I’m delighted and proud that he’s gone on and represented himself and his family well,” says Broughton.
“We’re all in the same game. All of our goal is to produce players that go on and play for Ireland. Even though we have this really cool tribalism within the system – which for someone coming from New Zealand, we’ve lost that a little bit – but I still love the idea of us being friends off the field.
“So although we would love to have him in Leinster, you have to celebrate that we helped him on the way, and he’s gone on to put a green jersey on.”
Broughton praises Tucker for the influence he has had on Illo’s scrummaging, which was a big focus for Aaron Dundon in the Leinster system when Illo was still there.
This has been the biggest development in Illo’s game that Broughton has seen with Connacht, helped by playing against older props in the AIL for Old Wesley and then Buccaneers.
“Our research shows that it probably takes four years to build up enough experience to be able to give a prop an opportunity to get to the international level,” says Broughton.
“So Irish props are generally being exposed to international rugby around 24 or 25. And it just takes time in that position.”
Wallace watched on with pride when Illo and Billy Bohan, who will also make his debut against Japan, more than held their own against World Cup-winning Springboks props Ox Nché and Vincent Koch of the Sharks in the Challenge Cup this season.
And he has been delighted to see Illo’s mobility and speed around the pitch coming back into play under Lancaster.
“That was a part of Sam’s game I hadn’t seen for a while,” says Wallace. “His ball-carrying, his footwork and stuff like that was always a huge part of his game.
“I think that’s come back to the fore a bit this year. I don’t know whether it’s Lancaster or the style of play or what, but it’s good to see him involved a bit more around the pitch. He has so much to offer.”
Broughton is proud to see that Illo doesn’t appear to have changed much, still bringing his own distinctive personality. He remembers that Illo was always a trend-setter when it came to his fashion, which has seemingly continued.
He recalls great conversations with Illo about football, his family, and how rugby could be a long career for him.
“He’s a good guy,” says Broughton.
Wallace echoes that and says everyone from Wesley College is watching on with pride.
“Sam is still a young man, but he has matured an awful lot in the last year or two,” says Wallace. “He keeps in touch and he’d be very good about doing things like dropping his old gear into school. The lads here just love that. It’s probably swimming on them, but they love a pair of tracksuit bottoms or whatever. It makes their day.
“In the school now, Craig has this mantra with the lads that ‘better people are better players,’ and that’s what Sam is.
“He’s a good lad.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Connacht Ireland Leinster Nations Championship pride of wesley Sam Illo Welsey College