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24th January 2022
05:25pm GMT

Conor Oliver, Leinster U20, is tackled by Will Leonard, left, and Glen Stokes of Munster. in 2014. (Credit: Pat Murphy/SPORTSFILE)[/caption]
"That team we had, Joey Carbery was playing 10, Jeremy Loughmann loosehead. David was playing second row. Nick Timoney, Caelan Doris. It was me, Nick and Caelan - we were all in the back row. Hugo Keegan was playing on the wing. All them lads in there are still playing professional, so it was one of... I don’t how many went pro. Most of the lads went into the academy after that, as well."[caption id="attachment_247679" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
David O'Connor, left, and Conor Oliver, Blackrock College, with the Leinster Schools Senior Cup trophy. (Credit: Stephen McCarthy/SPORTSFILE)[/caption]
"Dave Fagan was kind of the main S&C (coach) there, but he kinda ran the whole show. I remember going into his office and finding out that, look, I wasn’t going to get an academy contract. "[Leinster] just said, look, they think I’m good enough for the academy contract but they have the depth of back row that they have in Leinster. Like Dan Leavy he’s only a year or two older than me, then Josh [van der Flier] was obviously there as well, at a similar age. Josh Murphy too. Obviously, I was so upset, like any young player would be. "But then I got told, 'Look Munster are interested'. It was just kinda like 'next job' mentality - the goal was to still play professional rugby. Obviously, the goal was Leinster when I was there - that’s your boyhood club like your gonna play - but when that wasn’t there, I kind of had to just look onto the next challenge. When I heard Munster were interested, I didn’t even hesitate. I said 'Yes' straight away."At 19, he was off to Limerick. He joined Garryowen to get club experience with them and went into the Munster academy. By February 2016 he was making his senior debut and, nine months after that, starting in a highly emotional match at Thomond Park against the Maori All Blacks. Named in a back row with Tommy O'Donnell and Robin Copeland, Oliver was reported as 'tackling like a dog' all night as Munster beat the Maori side, a little over three weeks after losing coach Anthony Foley to a heart problem at the age of only 42. [caption id="attachment_247019" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Conor Oliver of Munster is tackled by Akira Ioane and Matt Proctor of Maori All Blacks. (Photo by Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile)[/caption]
"What happened was, I went to Leicester for two weeks, just on a training, kind of a trial. And so I was over there and [IRFU Performance Director] David Nucifora wanted to try keep me playing in Ireland. "I was over in Leicester and I didn't know if they were going to offer me a contract. I was sitting in limbo a bit, so I ended up coming back to Munster - go back in to Munster and train with them, halfway through the season. "So, that kind of happened and then Connacht, and the whole opportunity to come to Connacht came up. I obviously had a chat with Andy Friend, and Sam Arnold had signed already, and I would have been very close to Sam, as well, and I chatted to him, and then with Alex Wootton, as well. "Obviously, I still have international ambitions, and stuff, and if I went to Leicester they were obviously going to go away. That's the end goal. The process might have changed, over the years, but the end goal is still the same. So when the Connacht thing came up, I just felt I wasn't finished in Ireland yet. I didn't really want to leave. I kind of felt like I had a point to prove - that I can play and I'm good enough to be a starter in one of these Irish provinces."Oliver ended up finishing out the Covid-affected 2019/20 season with run-outs for Connacht at the Aviva Stadium. When most of us will still confined to our homes, the Dubliner was finding a new one with Connacht. [caption id="attachment_247681" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Conor Oliver is tackled by Ngani Laumape of Stade Francais Paris during a Champions Cup encounter at Stade Jean Bouin. (Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile)[/caption]
"I don't know why - I don't know the answer to that - but I feel like this season, I'm just not holding back. I'm just putting the head down and going for it."Connacht are still in United Rugby Championship playoff contention and have got themselves a Champions Cup Last 16 date with Leinster, in April. The positive vibes would be greater still if they could have finished off the likes of Leicester and Stade Francais after racing into second half leads. Playing in Andy Friend's side has focused the mind while also freeing his spirit.
"I love it; it's so exciting. To play in that (system) and have the shackles off - you know, you hear the teams talking about taking the shackles off, but we've the shackles off every game, you know what I mean? "It's so exciting to play, and with the players we have as well and the skill-set in the team. To be able to play like this in Galway, and some of the nights we have here with the wind and the rain, when we get a dry track, it just goes to another level."The goal remains pulling on an Ireland jersey and hearing the anthem ring out. He has a goal with Connacht, too. "My main priority is trying win as many games and put Connacht, as a club, in the best possible position to win silverware."
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