TIME MAY BE running out on Tomas O’Leary’s rugby career but the former Irish international has his future planned like clockwork.
He returned to Munster during the summer after three seasons with London Irish and while he is contracted until June 2017, he has developed a business which he will pursue further when he retires.
O’Leary set up a business designing watches when he was in London and they are now on sale under his own label, TOLD & Co [Tomas O’Leary Design], as he joins the likes of Tommy Bowe in the entrepreneurial stakes.
“I’ve had a bit of a fascination with watches since I was a young fella. My grandmother, May O’Leary, God rest her soul, used to always say you can tell a gentleman by his watch.
“I always liked watches and I said I’d give it a go. I have to start thinking about life after rugby. I’m not going to be around here forever, unfortunately,” said the 32-year old.
But his main priority now, especially with Conor Murray injured, is to get Munster back to winning ways and bolster his chances, not just with the Reds, but also possibly of adding to his 24 Irish caps — the last of which was won against England in the 2012 Six Nations.
“I’d love it [to play for Ireland again] but I guess my main job here is to put as much pressure on Conor as possible, and if I can even make the coaches start thinking about who they should be selecting at nine here then I might get into the shake-up for the green jersey again.
“If I can express myself down here then you’d never know; they might end up picking two Munster scrum-halves at some stage. You look at Redser [Eoin Reddan] and Bossie [Isaac Boss]; they’re both 35 or something. I’m 32 so there’s scope for a player of my vintage for a few more years.”
O’Leary enjoyed his time in London but is delighted to be back home and playing for Munster again — 10 years after making his debut for the province.
“I had a fantastic few years in London; just experienced a different lifestyle, something new. I suppose it gave me a chance to step back from the rugby. We struggled as a team over there. We were second, third-last over the three seasons I was there so it gave me a different perspective.
“Obviously, playing at a different level, I was used to playing with a Munster team that was used to contesting finals and semi-finals, to a team that was struggling to win games, so it gave me a different perspective, a different experience. Living in London gave me a chance to express myself and explore other avenues too.
“I’ve really enjoyed being back with the lads and a new coaching set-up for me. I’ve played with all the coaches, bar one, and getting to know a lot of the players as well. A few of them were there before but there’s a lot of new players there.
“I know there was a bit of a blip, to say the least, against Connacht at the weekend but we’ve started quite well,” he added, ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Dragons at Rodney Parade.
