AT THIS STAGE, Shane Lehane reckons he has been on tour for 150 days.
The Cobh man, who is part of the Wallabies set-up, has spent nearly five months away from his home in Melbourne and has had more than his fair share of hotel rooms, bus journeys, and Zoom calls at this stage.
It has been testing in a personal sense but strength and conditioning specialist Lehane is loving his opportunity with the Wallabies and moments like those after last weekend’s win over the All Blacks in Brisbane make it all worthwhile.
Lehane first spoke to Rugby Australia’s head of athletic performance, Dean Benton, last Christmas about coming on board for what was meant to be a summer series against Ireland and the regular Rugby Championship this year.
Covid-19 ruined all best-laid plans, however, and Lehane didn’t know for certain that he would be linking up with the Wallabies until only a few months ago.
Lehane is the lead S&C coach with the Melbourne Rebels, meaning he had already been away from home for several months for the Super Rugby AU competition when his Wallabies secondment was finally confirmed.
The Rebels were based in Terrigal, close to Sydney, during Super Rugby due to the severe Covid restrictions back home in the state of Victoria, so Lehane went from that camp straight into the Wallabies set-up without even getting a chance to nip home.
“I basically dropped my Rebels kit into the Rugby Australia warehouse and swapped it for an Asics bag with my Wallabies gear and headed straight back on tour,” says Lehane from the Wallabies’ current base in the Hunter Valley, a few hours north of Sydney.
“I reckon it’s probably the longest-ever rugby tour. It’s like back in the day when the Lions used to head off on a boat and not come home for months.”
With his wife, Sarah, back in Melbourne with their two-year-old daughter, Lara, it was a very difficult decision but the chance to link up with Dave Rennie’s new coaching staff was impossible to resist.
The support from home has been everything for Lehane.
“It was particularly hectic when Sarah was working full-time, daycare was closed and Victoria was in lockdown.
“I’d be calling home and she would have our two-year-old with her while trying to manage meetings on Zoom and I’d be on a day off at the beach in Terrigal!
“But, to be honest, Sarah has been amazing. If she had turned around and said she wasn’t comfortable or coping well, I would have gone home. But she has been a massive support and you couldn’t do it without that. She understands it’s an amazing opportunity.”
Lehane first moved to Australia to join the Rebels in 2015 following five-and-a-half years with the Leicester Tigers, as well as internships with Ulster, Munster, and Ireland before that.
His work in the Rebels’ set-up naturally brought him onto the Wallabies’ radar and Lehane has loved joining the national team in recent months as the Rennie era got underway with four consecutive games against the All Blacks.
The first two were on Kiwi soil, meaning the Wallabies had two weeks of isolation together upon landing in New Zealand, so a “pretty good environment to get to know people really well.”
Lehane joined Rennie’s backroom staff at the same time as forwards coach Geoff Parling, who had worked with at Leicester and the Rebels, while he obviously knew some of the players too. But he praises head coach Rennie for his work in bringing together what was a very new group.
“Dave Rennie has been really good on the cultural side of things, embracing a multi-cultural group with players of Fijian, Samoan, Tongan, and Cook Islands backgrounds.
“He’s done a big cultural piece around expressing their national identity and how that fits in with the Australian identity. It has been cool to be part of that.”
The Wallabies earned a 16-16 draw in Wellington first up against the All Blacks and Lehane had to pinch himself as he watched on with a front-row seat.
“One part of me had to take a step back and think, ‘You’re working in a Test match against the All Blacks.’ It was very exciting.”
There was a defeat at Eden Park and then a record loss back in Australia before Rennie’s men delivered an excellent performance last weekend to deservedly win 24-22 in a game that featured two red cards.
With a fresh-faced Wallabies matchday squad including 20-year-olds Harry Wilson, Jordan Petaia, Noah Lolesio, and Angus Bell, as well as several other inexperienced young players alongside stalwarts like captain Michael Hooper, it was a thrilling result for Aussie rugby.
“A big chunk of the boys have played together in the U20 set-up and have been reasonably successful,” says Lehane. “So there’s a young and enthusiastic group coming up and it’s just a case of getting familiar with playing at Test level.
“With some of the younger guys, there is obviously respect for the All Blacks but I’m not sure if there is any fear there among those young guys.
“They have won at underage levels and been competitive in their initial Tests against the All Blacks. That third game was a bit of an outlier in terms of where this team is going.”
As an S&C coach, Lehane has also enjoyed working with a crop of you men who are athletic specimens.
“They obviously need experience and exposure to this level but Harry Wilson is a great athlete, Jordan Petaia is something pretty special, Angus Bell is an excellent athlete, so there are a lot of good young players coming through. These guys have got so much energy and excitement and that’s pretty infectious, to be honest.”
There have been Covid-related challenges for the Wallabies along the way, of course, but it has certainly been a positive start to life to the new era and while Lehane is naturally pining for his family and his own bed, he is loving being part of the journey.
There is nothing nailed down just yet and he is expected back with the Rebels for 2021 but would love to remain involved with the Wallabies in a potential combined role. Lehane stresses that this is not simply about furthering his career.
“We would probably be Australian citizens by now if it wasn’t for the Covid situation,” says Lehane.
“Our daughter was born over here, so it’s exciting to work for the Wallabies obviously, but there’s also a real attachment to Australia as a country. It’s more than just a career opportunity.”
But first, finishing out the Tri Nations successfully is on the agenda. The Wallabies have two games against Argentina in the coming weeks and even before the Pumas’ stunning first-ever victory over the All Blacks, Lehane was warning of their threat.
“Argentina have a point to prove after travelling over here, spending time in isolation, and on into the Tri-Nations. That will be a pretty tough challenge.
“But the mood in our squad is definitely buoyant and there’s excitement in the group.”
