IT’S BRIGHT AND early in Dublin, Ireland, late evening in Newcastle, Australia, and the roles have momentarily reversed as Scott Fardy starts quizzing The42 for updates on a city he called home for four years.
“I’m hoping they might get the new maternity hospital done at some point, is that close to being finished yet?” Fardy asks. It’s not a route we anticipated the conversation following, but children quickly come to mind when the former Australia and Leinster forward thinks about his time in Dublin.
His wife, Penelope, was six months pregnant with their first child when they boarded the long flight to Ireland back in 2017. Their son, August, was born in Dublin that summer, and their second boy, Walker, followed a couple of years later. The couple are expecting the arrival of a daughter in the coming weeks, their first child born outside Ireland.
“Oh, we’d love to come back at some point,” Fardy says.
“The people make the place. If you’re going to move countries, move to Ireland because it’s just cold Australia anyway, it’s a very similar culture. It was a very smooth transition.”
Life moves at a different pace now. Fardy retired at the end of 2020/21 season, signing off in front of just 1,200 fans at the RDS due to Covid restrictions. The family were soon on the move again. A stint coaching with NEC Green Rockets in Japan helped ease the difficult transition from player to ex-player, but the Fardys are now back in Australia waiting to welcome their newest arrival.
It’s enough the keep the mind and body busy until the next chapter becomes a little clearer.
“When I went to Japan coaching I didn’t feel like I had left it (rugby) that much, but now I feel really on the outside in some ways. I miss that camaraderie that rugby brings you and the people, feel a little bit lonely at times.
I think what I really struggled with over the last six months is when I didn’t have much of a purpose. That was a really, really difficult thing for me. Coaching kept me busy, but when you’re not busy your mind goes off, and the stress of not working and things like that come into play.
“I’ve got a very busy mind. I like to be on the go all the time and doing things. When that wasn’t happening for me, it was frustrating. But I knew what was going on and I knew that this was just a moment in my life.”
Small steps back into coaching have brought that routine and camaraderie back into his life.
“I’m doing the forwards now at my club, Warringah in Sydney. It’s where I grew up but I haven’t been there in 15 years really. I’m excited to just to get back around a team, being with guys and giving each other shit and all those things that come with it. I’ve missed being in a dressing room.”
More on that later.
We’re talking to Fardy because tonight Australia are in town to take on Ireland, and the 38-year-old has a good understanding of what makes both squads tick. Fardy was capped 39 times for the Wallabies before retiring from Test rugby in 2016. One year later, he touched down in Dublin, Leinster beating a number of suitors who registered their interest when he decided to step away from the Brumbies.
“If you want to go and play big games in Europe, that’s where you go,” Fardy says.
“I remember those first few weeks at Leinster going in and thinking ‘Jesus, there’s so much detail,’ compared to what I was used to.
I remember looking at Stu’s [Lancaster] notes and turning to Jamison [Gibson-Park] and going, ‘Jesus, is this every day?’ I couldn’t believe how long his notes were! It was like I was at University. But I loved that environment, seeing every guy in there with his book, writing everything down and going mad for it. Everyone was very studious. Coming into that environment with really intelligent players was a great place to be.”
It was an environment in which Fardy thrived, led by the coaching duo of Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster.
“Leo is thinking about a game that’s happening in five weeks or 10 weeks or the young kids coming through,” Fardy continues.
“The people like Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher. They weren’t even training with us when I first turned up and now they’re fully fledged Irish stars and will probably go on to play for the Lions. He’s looking at those players down the line as much as what’s happening next week.
“And the thing about Stu is he’s very fair about what he says in terms of any criticism. It’s never untoward. You always get a fair shake with him. That’s one big thing.
And then it’s his passion. When somebody is that passionate about something, and you would say similar things about Johnny [Sexton], if you want to be good at rugby they’re the kind of guys you want to follow and do things for and play well for. That makes it really easy to come and try do your best and pull guys up around you.”
To boil it all down, that was Fardy’s role at Leinster. Lead by example, help others grow. He recalls being struck by the quality of his new teammates, highlighting a lack of Pro14 and Champions Cup rugby available to viewers in the southern hemisphere before his arrival.
“I knew Jamie [Heaslip] and Sean [O'Brien] and a few guys like that, but most of the other guys I didn’t know much about. They probably didn’t know much about me either.
“A guy like Robbie Henshaw, I knew he was a Lion at that stage but I didn’t know much about him. When I got there I just thought the guy was an unbelievable player. Unbelievable defender, runs unbelievably good lines in attack. Just a very tough player.”
He was more aware of Johnny Sexton’s talents but sharing a dressing room provided a different perspective. One year Fardy’s junior, the Leinster and Ireland captain is still going strong and playing some of the best rugby of his career.
“The kind of guy you want to play for. He’s passionate, wears his heart on his sleeve and he goes for it. That’s what you want. Playing with him is something I cherish.
“Sometimes he gets on your nerves, he gives some of the best sprays,” Fardy laughs.
“He had his bunnies, I won’t mention who they are, but he went after certain guys. He didn’t go after me much, we had a different kind of relationship. Just the odd swear at me, but I’d probably swear back, so it was alright.
“He’s done an exceptional job of looking after himself and keeping himself motivated; I think that’s the hard thing. When I came to the end of my career, you’ve done it over and over again for 10-15 years and then you’ve got to go again for another season. But he just seems to completely love it and want to go again and play at the highest level non-stop.”
During those four years at Leinster Fardy made 80 appearances for the province, winning four league titles and one Champions Cup. Mention of those medals still raises a smile.
It justified the decision to leave. The easy thing was to stay in Australia, do a couple more years at the Brumbies. I have 97 Brumbies caps and there’s only a couple of guys that have 100. I’d only missed about six games with injury so I was really filthy that I left without being a 100 cap player, because all my mates were.
“Then to come over here and experience a different way of playing the game, and finally taste what it is to win… I lost finals for every major trophy [Super Rugby, World Cup], so to come over and win, it meant a lot to me.
“To finish your career in a team that won… To be part of that and now to be able to look back at some of the guys coming through, Caelan Doris, Dan and Rónan, Josh van der Flier who has taken off again, to be able to play with those guys and now to have 10 years of watching them play, it’s great.”
Today he’ll sit back and tune in to see many of those former teammates take on the Wallabies. Fardy has been impressed by Ireland’s form under Andy Farrell but quickly draws the comparison to the last World Cup cycle.
“It’s like 2018 when I was there and everything was going really well. There’s going to be a time where it won’t go well for them. You’re going to have a moment or a few moments where you won’t reach your peak.
“But watching that series in New Zealand, it was exceptional. The third game was just one of the best Tests to watch. To dominate New Zealand in New Zealand, so many Australian teams have tried to do that for the last 25-30 years and haven’t achieved it.
The thing about Ireland is they’re picking the same players in the same positions and they’re pretty fluid, but their selection has been pretty similar for the last 10 Tests. You could name their 23 pretty easily and if you look at some of the other teams, you can’t do that.”
We’re speaking just a couple of days after the Wallabies came agonisingly close to beating France in Paris. A few days later, they would fall to a shock defeat to Italy.
“It’s always that kind of close, but not close enough,” Fardy says of Australia.
“One of the biggest thing if you look at Australia, the amount of ruck turnovers is going to be a big focus against Ireland because Ireland have got a lot of guys who can get on ball with Doris and Peter O’Mahony and Josh as well. That France game, how many times they got turned over in the ruck just from guys coming in late – you give anyone that space in the northern hemisphere, they’re going to turn the ball over, it’s just such a big part of the game (in the north).
“It just shows how much Super Rugby has probably not been producing Test-kind of players at the moment. Test rugby is probably more suited to the northern hemisphere sides.”
Shortly before leaving Leinster, Fardy voiced his concerns around the direction the Test game is heading, highlighting the size of forward packs in a game that is increasingly being slowed down, allowing bigger men to last longer on the pitch.
Moving home has pushed other issues to the fore. In Australia, union is struggling for attention alongside rugby league and the AFL. He feels more could be done in these parts, too.
“I remember playing games with Leinster at 7.30pm, 8pm at night in January and February. Put them on during the day, get the kids there… If you want to get crowds you have to put it on when crowds want to come. Look at the Premier League, they do have Monday night games but most of the games are 12pm, 1pm or 3pm on a Saturday or Sunday when people want to come.”
It’s a topic of interest for Fardy because his family would like to return to this part of the world some day. For now he’ll continue to lace up as assistant coach at Warringah, but hopes bigger things lie in store.
“I just want to keep learning as much as I can and see where it takes me really, a bit like the playing career,” he adds.
“I enjoy the on-field coaching part of it, the computer side, not great, but I love being on the field and running around still. That’s the part of rugby I really enjoy. I want to keep at it and keep doing it, so I’m looking for opportunities.”
Has he been tempted to pick up the phone to Cullen?
“Ah, he’s constantly messaging me anyway, so it’s alright,” Fardy smiles.
“I’ve stayed in touch with a lot of the boys. Usually mugging each other off, sending things to each other, but yeah, still in touch with a lot of the guys.”
Home away from home.
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