A TALE OF two props at Aviva Stadium last Friday night. At one end of the scale, Cian Healy is glad to get any focus on him out of the way as he prepares to equal Brian O’Driscoll’s record as Ireland’s most-capped player. In the same dressing room, Thomas Clarkson feels the need to give his notes one final look before he becomes Ireland’s latest debutant. Clarkson, 24, tries to cram as Healy, 37, interjects with some words of wisdom.
“At the last minute I was looking at my notepad and he came over and said ‘don’t worry about it, you know you can do it, just get out and do it’,” explains Clarkson.
“It’s typical Church, like I’m with him at Leinster the whole time, he’s that kind of comforting figure that you have, obviously he has so much experience.
“Tom O’Toole had that keadknock towards the end of last week so even before the team was announced I kinda had a rough idea I might be playing and straight away he came up to me and said if I had any doubts about anything during the week to come up to him.”
Healy’s influence behind the scenes helped Clarkson deliver an impressive start to his international career, a step which arrived faster than he might have expected.
The Leinster prop was originally named as a ‘training panellist’ in Andy Farrell’s squad for the November internationals, but jumped up the queue due to Tadhg Furlong’s niggling hamstring and the head injury which ruled Ulster’s O’Toole out of Friday’s meeting with Argentina.
Clarkson had entered the Ireland camp with the understanding he would be leaving the squad after the pre-November training week in Portugal. Then a couple of days out from the opening game against New Zealand, Farrell came over for a word.
“Just ‘you are staying on…’ We were gyming on the Monday and the team was announced Tuesday morning so he kinda gives lads a heads up about what they are doing.
“So he was like ‘You are going to be involved, 24th [man] for the New Zealand game’ because obviously Tadhg had been in and out with a few niggles so I was half expecting it. It was either me or Jack Boyle because they normally take a tighthead so I kinda had a rough idea but he confirmed it there before we left.
I wasn’t supposed to be kept on after Portugal so to be kept on and end up playing, it was a bit crazy.”
A former Ireland U20 international, Clarkson has played 47 times for Leinster but just once in the Champions Cup. Test rugby is a significant step up, but he handled the occasion well and made some good impacts, with 10 proud family members watching on from the stands.
“It was a bit surreal, like coming out for the anthem, it hadn’t been that full for the warm up and then coming out and the fact it was dark as well so that added an extra bit… It was cool.”
His night was split into two shifts off the bench, getting an early taste as he replaced Josh van der Flier between the 24th and 29th minutes before he was sent in for Finlay Bealham just over 50 minutes into the game.
“I had to cool back down and then I had to warm back up. I was still pretty nervous coming on [the second time].
“I wasn’t expecting 30 minutes as well so I was just trying to just make sure I was going at it from the start. Probably blew my load a little at the start, I was running around like a headless chicken there for the first 20 minutes, the last 10 I kinda died a little. But I suppose that’s what you might expect, first cap.”
He can reflect positively on some good contributions, making a good defensive play to force an Argentina error in the final quarter and having a role in a scrum penalty win which saw the former Blackrock student receive most of the on-field plaudits.
“Bit unwarranted I think!” is Clarkson’s honest assessment. “Everyone’s involved. To come on, scrums hadn’t necessarily been going that well during the week, so it was just about trying to make it work on the day and thank God it did.”
After the game Clarkson soaked up the experience with his new Ireland teammates. He credits Bealham for a strong mentoring role over the last few weeks and was delighted to hit this career milestone alongside his Leinster teammate and friend, Sam Prendergast, who took over from Jack Crowley at out-half for the closing 18 minutes.
“I’m good mates with Prendo anyway so we were chatting away. Obviously as a number 10 if you are not scoring any points he probably had a bit of frustration but, sure, if you are not happy getting your first cap there is something wrong with you.
“Typical Prendo, he wants everything to be 100% perfect and when it’s not he has got a big stroppy head on him. Similar to Sexto, I would have said.”
It wasn’t 100% from Ireland in general but it was important to get back to winning ways, and that was the message delivered from Farrell to his players post-game.
“Faz said yesterday [Thursday] and moving on from last week that three from three is a must now – Argentina, Fiji, Australia. We wanted four from four and then having lost last week we needed it. Probably a small bit of relief in that it went down to the wire.
“But general happiness, although I’m probably looking at it from a different way to most people because it is my first cap, but I think everyone is happy. There is so many milestones today I feel like you can’t help but feel happy.”
I’ll be honest I had my doubts how he would adjust to the major step up but he was so assured when he came on, that defensive read and hunger off the line was the highlight for me. He very much so held his own in the scrum too against seasoned internationals. The last 12 months has seen him steadily improve in all aspects. McBryde gets questioned a lot(some warranted to be fair) but when you analyse Clarkson’s improvement over the last 12 months McByrde does deserve some recognition. Clarkson still has a long way to go but at 24 he’s still very young in terms of development as a th. He’s a much needed depth cog in the Irish th department. Let’s hope when Boyle does get his opportunity he too impresses. Lh is imo the area of most concern for Ireland.
@Ian1989: if you think back, cian healy started very early and wasnt quite ready. He had a few tough days, but turned out petty good?
@brian o’leary: There was a game for leinster around 2009 he got subbed after 20 mins I think it was a Heineken cup match, turns out he got pretty good after that
@brian o’leary: 100%. Very few of th’s are world beaters in their early 20’s. Obviously there’s exceptions but it’s rare. For me th is the position that there’s the most to learn and evolve in amongst all the positions. It’s no coincidence that most of the best th’s in the world are in their late 20’s-early 30’s. Lh’s is a little bit less arduous in its learnings but is still a very difficult position to fully grasp. I feel prop and especially th is the largest transitional position from 20’s/school level to senior level. The step up in difficulty from 20’s level to senior level is massive so I feel when we see a prop lord it at 20’s or school level we need to dial back our excitement and expectation level as it’s chalk and cheese in terms of quality and difficulty
@Ian1989: …lot of sense throughout your comment and yes, your last sentence is correct from a personnel availability/cover aspect. Tactically, we need to address the shortage of natural ball carriers in the pack and particularly in the back row.
@Michael Murray: Yeah we have become very predictable with our forward carries. The opposition know that Doris is the only major threat there and have completely nullified him in this series. I do think we need a Kaino kind of 6 that is bullish and is physical on both sides of the ball and when in possession the opposition are worried what threat he has that way Doris will have that little bit more time and space to do what he does best. I would like to see Izzy utilised at some stage at 6 vs Fiji. Also we have missed not having the option of bringing on Conan at 6. That b3 combo has started the season very well for their province.
@Ian1989: Yep, it’s lucky the Provinces can sign an occasional foreign prop to ensure they remain competitive and to help bring the young lads on. Oh hold on…..
@Ian1989: It’ll be very interesting to see if Izuchukwu gets to start this weekend. He seems to be the perfect fit for a modern 6. Tall so normally a good option at lineout, very powerful ball carrier. Played 7’s so decent hands and quick about the park. He could take a lot of heat away from Doris who is getting teamed when he’s carrying now.
@Justin Robinson: to be fair , you can kinda see why Humphries did that. There’s nothing coming through at LH outside Leinster. It’s fine to fill the provinces with NIQ props but IrL are forced to play the one intl LH for 70+ mins and the backup for maxx10. It’s a bad situation
@Michael Corkery: Not if you give it any thought whatsoever. The Provinces weren’t filled with foreign props in the first place. Who has stopped the pathway of the likes of Archer, Buckley, Warwick and EOS? They have about 750 caps between them. And 3 international ones. What is the plan beyond simply banning imports? How is Ireland going to suddenly produce a load of high quality international props when they’ve only managed a handful in the professional era? How will success be measured? When and under what circumstances will the ban be lifted? How are the Provinces expected to remain competitive? How is Ulster signing two THs from the Championship who’ve previously been passed up on any good for anyone? Where is Ireland’s SID at wing? At second row even?
@Justin Robinson: Why even make the ban public knowledge, backing the Provinces and the IRFU into a corner when it comes to negotiating the contracts of the existing props and solving the likes of Munster’s current front row injury crisis?
@Michael Corkery: Agreed. He’s a try threat from close range too. Had his performances at the end of last season come in a blue shirt then no doubt there’d be a bigger clamour for him to be playing. Fortunately, being the most impactful player on the park before his injury at the Aviva in the playoffs got him on the summer tour.
The kid done well. I will admit I have had a few issues with him at scrum time. Mostly timing and getting penalised for engaging before the call. He also sometimes doesn’t actually grab the jersey when he’s ment to bind. He has been very good around the pitch and more than held his own on Friday. Looks like I might have been wrong.
He’s in a real battle for Ireland when all are fit. For Leinster, if he continues to improve like this I imagine they don’t extend Slimani’s contract and he backs up TF for the 25/26 season
@Andrew Slazenger: I see his play around the field as being fine, it’s his scrummaging that is an issue. He’s not there yet.
@Andrew Slazenger: Slimani will not get an extended contract even if Leinster want to give him one
Obviously wasn’t Bealham’s best night but there wasn’t a drop in standard between the two when Clarkson came on. Over the past few years, there have been quite a few lads whose quality maybe hasn’t been obvious in their provincial play and have more so shown what they’ve got in green: Clarkson now, Keenan (before he was fully established), Nash, and a few others to boot.
@Lochlainn Garvey: there’s a real problem in Ireland with conservative attitudes in the provinces, both from coaches and from players. We should never be in situations where a player that don’t get their chances at provincial level have to prove that they are good enough at international level first. Or where future internationals are stuck for years behind more experienced players without getting a proper chance to develop and prove themselves in Europe because experience is valued too highly and selectors are too risk adverse. There need to be a better balance.
A big part of the problem is of course the bottleneck of not having enough games to play everyone who needs game time. That problem needs to be addressed. But there is also a systemic conservatism in selection policies in Ireland which is hurting the game here. Andy Farrell is saying that we don’t have the players, but, arguably we do have the players. They just haven’t hade a chance to develop from a lack of opportunity. You need game time against quality opposition to develop and instil confidence in the selectors.
The development tour is definitely a fantastic step in the right direction by the way. I’m a massive fan of that.
@Petter Sellberg: There’s some truth to that but in my opinion, Cullen at Leinster is the biggest offender in this regard. To be fair, he also has the biggest reserves of players so it’s harder for him to throw in the younger players unlike say Munster who were down to the bare bones with injuries and had no choice. That said, I think Cullen is naturally a very conservative selector and that has led Farrell to ‘overrule’ his judgement on quite a few (Frawley/Prendy over Byrne brothers being the latest example) selections. Something similar might have to happen at LH prop now, not ideal.
@Michael Corkery: I don’t disagree that Cullen is a conservative selector. However, somewhat paradoxically Academy players at Leinster seem to get more 1st team action than elsewhere. Largely helped by restrictions on the international players. So not in Europe, of course. But, at say, Connacht, Academy players never seem to get any first team action.
@Petter Sellberg: Other than back rowers, which players do you think are being held back in this way?
With Fiji & Australia left , surely time to start mixing it up properly with experimentation (players and combinations)
France have already stated they are sending an experimental Squad to NZ new year to build squad depth for WC 27 (and rightly so)
All sides are building . worry with Ireland is have you hit a speed bump or a plateau? (with other top sides improving/building quicker.
I get the bread and butter is the 6Nations but to be in with a chance come WC 27, need to build if WC27 is a real aspiration
@Stuart: I trust Farrell to get this right. He has shown repeatedly that he knows when the put a player in and when not to. Osbourne at FB during series in SA is a great example – no one saw that except him. 2ndly, you guys might care about the RWC draw but Farrell definitely does. That last draw was a nightmare. I’d say he’ll be more experimental when the draw is made. I’d expect a couple of new faces this weekend- Izuchukwu seems set to debut and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Boyle (who has hardly featured in URC for Leinster). That’s adding to Prendergast, Clarkson who’ve already got debuts. In hindsight that 1st half v Arg was a much better performance than they’ve been given credit for. Arg have beaten everyone they’ve played this year bar ourselves.
@Stuart: that said, I was disappointed with the bench selection v NZ. I think he’d admit privately that he got that wrong. There was no impact and many predicted that when they saw it. We were well in that game (while not playing particularly well) and when bench came on, we fell off a cliff.
Is there a chance o toole is fit this weekend?