TOM DALY HAD to do a double take when he saw it.
Still getting to grips with the fact that he was part of Ireland’s sevens program, let alone captain, he wasn’t sure what to think when he saw his Lansdowne teammate Finn Gormley in the Norway tracksuit.
After all, only a few weeks earlier the pair had celebrated an AIL title together, and here they were in Croatia in June playing sevens. Daly was captaining Ireland, Gormley the Norwegian skipper.
“I didn’t know he was playing for them, I didn’t know he had anything to do with them.
“I had heard when I got there that he was captain of Norway, I bumped into him at one of the press things at the start, it was good craic,” he laughs.
Alas, the teammates didn’t become opponents that weekend, with Norway winning the plate and Ireland winning the tournament outright, breaking sweat only for the sweltering conditions as they scored 60 unanswered tries in six games.
However, the nations they faced weren’t likely to startle them, the likes of Slovenia, Austria and Bulgaria not exactly hotbeds of rugby.
This weekends trip to Lisbon for the Rugby Europe Repechage represents a far greater step up though, with some more recognisable rugby nations awaiting in Ireland’s pool.
They’ve Russia – a fixture on the sevens circuit for some time, as well as Italy and Georgia, and the Olympic dream will only continue with a top three finish in the tournament. Daly is well aware of the jump in talent they’ll face this weekend.
“We’ve had two tournaments so far, Division C and Division B, and we won pretty comprehensively, so it’s going to be a big step up this weekend because we’re playing against some of the best teams in Europe.
“They’ve probably played a lot more sevens than us. We’re probably going in as the 12th seed, but we don’t feel that we’re the bottom side in the competition. we believe we have a good chance of going there and getting one of the top three spots and going to the World Repechage next year.
“Obviously it’ll be a bit of a shock when we get there, because we probably haven’t played big rugby nations yet, but I believe – and the team believes – that we’re good enough to compete. We believe we should be on the world series, but we have to go through this process to get there.”
He’s not expecting it t happen overnight though. Ultimately, the Olympics is the goal but they’re not allowing themselves think about Rio just yet. If a top three finish is secured, they’ll still need to go to the World Repechage and claim the last spot available for Rio 2016.
They may all be highly regarded young players, but getting accustomed to sevens rugby wasn’t just a case of flicking a switch.
In fact, when the whole process of trying out for the side began in January, it wasn’t for everyone.
“I think we have been surprised with how well we’ve been playing. I remember a few months ago we had a trial out here and a few of the lads even said to me, ‘I don’t like this game at all!’ but now everyone loves it and we’re playing pretty well as a team.
“I think the very first time we played it we didn’t know the game, we were overworking ourselves.
“Over the last month we’ve got to know the game a lot better. We’ve become more adapted to it, and obviously our fitness and stuff like that has improved with it. That’s going to help me in the 15-a-side game when I go back to that,” he says.
That knock-on effect, a summer training full-time is likely to benefit Daly and the rest of the squad when they return to their provinces and clubs on Monday.
The 21-year-old centre doesn’t think he’ll be stuck in a sevens state of mind when he gets back into the norm though, confident in the knowledge that the skills he’s learned through the summer will stand to him.
“I think it’ll benefit me, because I’ll be a lot fitter. Probably a few adjustments, there’s a few differences in defence and such, but I don’t think it’ll be hard to go back to 15 a side. I think it’ll benefit me more than anything, playing sevens.”
He isn’t pinching himself at the thought of captaining his country at an Olympic Games yet though, there’s still far too much to do.
While Ireland may be one of the top test nations in the world, their status on the sevens circuit is that of minnows. Granted, the’ll have a squad of 13 well trained rugby players, but plenty of sides – Russia in particular – are experienced in the format.
They travel to Lisbon confident, but cautious.
“It probably sounds close but it’s still not that close. We still have to get top three this weekend and then go to the worlds.
“It’s a bit of a surprise like, I only found out about this program back in January, I went to a trial in February, and could be going to the Olympics next year, so it’s all happened pretty quickly.”
Originally published at 16.49
Vern Cotter adds a Super Rugby winning Highlander to Scotland’s World Cup squad
5 talking points ahead of this year’s Rugby Championship
