WALES KICKED THE ball dead and so, just three minutes into his first Test start at loosehead prop, Tom O’Toole got ready for the very first scrum of the game.
It wasn’t his first scrum as a loosehead in international rugby, with the Ulster man having impressed off the bench in Ireland’s wins over Italy and England, but it felt like an important moment.
Referee Karl Dickson called ‘set’ and O’Toole snapped into action against experienced Wales tighthead Tomas Francis, who immediately pancaked onto the ground.
Dickson awarded the penalty to Ireland, punishing Francis for having his “feet too far back,” and Jack Crowley kicked down the line. From there, Ireland scored their opening try through Jacob Stockdale.
It was a dream start for O’Toole, who went on to win another scrum penalty off Francis in the second half. That scrum came directly after O’Toole had initiated a choke tackle on Welsh hooker Dewi Lake, combining with Rónan Kelleher for an important turnover in the Irish 22.
O’Toole – who was also making his first Six Nations start – chipped in with eight carries for Ireland, made all 10 of his tackle attempts, won a breakdown turnover, hit lots of Irish rucks with aggression, and didn’t give away any penalties.
There was a scrum free-kick against him just before half-time for engaging early, while O’Toole had a crucial misread in the defensive set just before James Botham’s second-half try, but his performance was a strong one.
The 27-year-old has played virtually all of his professional rugby at tighthead and only featured at loosehead for the first time for Ireland in November 2024 against Fiji.
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O’Toole had another crack at the loosehead slot when he started there for Ireland A against England A last year, but injuries in the position meant Ireland boss Andy Farrell turned to him again in this Six Nations.
Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy, and Jack Boyle were all ruled out before the championship and then Jeremy Loughman was struck down by a calf injury last week after starting the first three games of the championship.
Down to number five in his loosehead depth chart, Farrell was delighted with how O’Toole stepped up against Wales in Ireland’s 27-17 win on Friday night.
“It’s amazing what he’s done,” said Farrell. “I don’t think anyone could underestimate that fact. It’s a lot more difficult than what people would think.
“What’s been really impressive is how he committed to not having any excuses in his own mind.
“It’s very easy to do that, ‘Well, that’s not the position that I play in.’
“Everyone knows how difficult it is to switch, but he committed to it, and we’ve seen that type of scrummaging performance in training. He got us a few penalties on the back of that.”
Ireland brought six props to the World Cup in 2023 as part of their 33-man squad but other nations opted for only five props because at least one of their quintet could cover both sides.
That partly played into Ireland’s thinking around first experimenting with O’Toole at loosehead, with scrum coach John Fogarty beginning to work closely with him there in 2024.
“Well, there’s always stuff going on in the back of your mind with what could happen down the track and different permutations, what could happen injury-wise, or do you need a double adaptor in the World Cup, all that type of stuff,” said Farrell, who also mentioned that loosehead Porter can play at tighthead.
“He’s trained there for us before but to be in at the deep end and start, I’m sure that him and John Fogarty wouldn’t have thought six months ago that he’d be starting at loosehead in a Test match, but I think that’s a fantastic story for us moving forward.”
O’Toole seems likely to get another chance at loosehead against Scotland in Ireland’s final Six Nations game on Saturday, although Farrell didn’t rule Loughman out of a return when he was speaking on Friday night.
As for O’Toole himself, he is happy with how the loosehead adventure is going. He switched there once during an Ulster game against Benetton last season, but the bulk of the learning has been done in Ireland camp.
O'Toole in a scrum againt Wales. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
“Fogs has been really good with me,” said O’Toole. “Then you have the confidence of Rónan [Kelleher], a Lion, Tadhg [Furlong], a Lion, guys around you that can help you so much.
“A comment a couple of weeks ago that stuck with me was when Church [Cian Healy, who visited Ireland camp] just said, ‘Once you get over the white line, just focus on the game.’
“So obviously thinking about it throughout the week, but not trying to put too much thought into it as well, not overthinking it, just kind of getting a good feel for it.
“And building that confidence through training, which I’ve had over the last couple of weeks and then putting that into a performance which has been really pleasing for myself and the team.”
O’Toole says he learned lots from the replacement appearance against Fiji a few years ago when he was penalised at two scrums but also had a couple of good contributions at the set-piece.
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Recently, he has enjoyed picking up a few tidbits from Wallabies loosehead Angus Bell in Ulster.
Now, he’s just hoping to kick on with Ireland after impressing on the loosehead side.
“I think the stage I’m at in my career, 27, being in camp a little while, we’ve such good depth at tighthead, Tadhg, Finlay [Bealham], Tom Clarkson, three British and Irish Lions as well. We have a lot of depth.
“I think as a 27-year-old, where I am in my career, with the depth that we had at tighthead, it was definitely something that was very pleasing to be able to get the opportunity to play both.
“I think it’ll definitely serve me, hopefully, in good stead in the future to be able to play both. And if I can compete hard, then it gives me an opportunity to play both sides whichever way they see fit.”
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O'Toole earns high praise for 'amazing' impact at loosehead
WALES KICKED THE ball dead and so, just three minutes into his first Test start at loosehead prop, Tom O’Toole got ready for the very first scrum of the game.
It wasn’t his first scrum as a loosehead in international rugby, with the Ulster man having impressed off the bench in Ireland’s wins over Italy and England, but it felt like an important moment.
Referee Karl Dickson called ‘set’ and O’Toole snapped into action against experienced Wales tighthead Tomas Francis, who immediately pancaked onto the ground.
Dickson awarded the penalty to Ireland, punishing Francis for having his “feet too far back,” and Jack Crowley kicked down the line. From there, Ireland scored their opening try through Jacob Stockdale.
It was a dream start for O’Toole, who went on to win another scrum penalty off Francis in the second half. That scrum came directly after O’Toole had initiated a choke tackle on Welsh hooker Dewi Lake, combining with Rónan Kelleher for an important turnover in the Irish 22.
O’Toole – who was also making his first Six Nations start – chipped in with eight carries for Ireland, made all 10 of his tackle attempts, won a breakdown turnover, hit lots of Irish rucks with aggression, and didn’t give away any penalties.
There was a scrum free-kick against him just before half-time for engaging early, while O’Toole had a crucial misread in the defensive set just before James Botham’s second-half try, but his performance was a strong one.
The 27-year-old has played virtually all of his professional rugby at tighthead and only featured at loosehead for the first time for Ireland in November 2024 against Fiji.
O’Toole had another crack at the loosehead slot when he started there for Ireland A against England A last year, but injuries in the position meant Ireland boss Andy Farrell turned to him again in this Six Nations.
Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy, and Jack Boyle were all ruled out before the championship and then Jeremy Loughman was struck down by a calf injury last week after starting the first three games of the championship.
Down to number five in his loosehead depth chart, Farrell was delighted with how O’Toole stepped up against Wales in Ireland’s 27-17 win on Friday night.
“It’s amazing what he’s done,” said Farrell. “I don’t think anyone could underestimate that fact. It’s a lot more difficult than what people would think.
“What’s been really impressive is how he committed to not having any excuses in his own mind.
“It’s very easy to do that, ‘Well, that’s not the position that I play in.’
“Everyone knows how difficult it is to switch, but he committed to it, and we’ve seen that type of scrummaging performance in training. He got us a few penalties on the back of that.”
Ireland brought six props to the World Cup in 2023 as part of their 33-man squad but other nations opted for only five props because at least one of their quintet could cover both sides.
That partly played into Ireland’s thinking around first experimenting with O’Toole at loosehead, with scrum coach John Fogarty beginning to work closely with him there in 2024.
“Well, there’s always stuff going on in the back of your mind with what could happen down the track and different permutations, what could happen injury-wise, or do you need a double adaptor in the World Cup, all that type of stuff,” said Farrell, who also mentioned that loosehead Porter can play at tighthead.
“He’s trained there for us before but to be in at the deep end and start, I’m sure that him and John Fogarty wouldn’t have thought six months ago that he’d be starting at loosehead in a Test match, but I think that’s a fantastic story for us moving forward.”
O’Toole seems likely to get another chance at loosehead against Scotland in Ireland’s final Six Nations game on Saturday, although Farrell didn’t rule Loughman out of a return when he was speaking on Friday night.
As for O’Toole himself, he is happy with how the loosehead adventure is going. He switched there once during an Ulster game against Benetton last season, but the bulk of the learning has been done in Ireland camp.
“Fogs has been really good with me,” said O’Toole. “Then you have the confidence of Rónan [Kelleher], a Lion, Tadhg [Furlong], a Lion, guys around you that can help you so much.
“A comment a couple of weeks ago that stuck with me was when Church [Cian Healy, who visited Ireland camp] just said, ‘Once you get over the white line, just focus on the game.’
“So obviously thinking about it throughout the week, but not trying to put too much thought into it as well, not overthinking it, just kind of getting a good feel for it.
“And building that confidence through training, which I’ve had over the last couple of weeks and then putting that into a performance which has been really pleasing for myself and the team.”
O’Toole says he learned lots from the replacement appearance against Fiji a few years ago when he was penalised at two scrums but also had a couple of good contributions at the set-piece.
Recently, he has enjoyed picking up a few tidbits from Wallabies loosehead Angus Bell in Ulster.
Now, he’s just hoping to kick on with Ireland after impressing on the loosehead side.
“I think the stage I’m at in my career, 27, being in camp a little while, we’ve such good depth at tighthead, Tadhg, Finlay [Bealham], Tom Clarkson, three British and Irish Lions as well. We have a lot of depth.
“I think as a 27-year-old, where I am in my career, with the depth that we had at tighthead, it was definitely something that was very pleasing to be able to get the opportunity to play both.
“I think it’ll definitely serve me, hopefully, in good stead in the future to be able to play both. And if I can compete hard, then it gives me an opportunity to play both sides whichever way they see fit.”
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Six Nations Ireland Loosehead prop life Tom O'Toole