Inspirational words from Ronan O’Gara as he marvels at the sheer bloody-mindedness needed to make it in professional rugby.
Kevin McLaughlin can remember it like it was yesterday.
Convinced he was set to be axed from the Leinster squad by Michael Cheika, the Leinster flanker had been to three interviews and looked to have a new job lined up at Allied Irish Bank… six months before the banking crash.
It was the last thing he wanted to do.
He was certain he was better than the No.6 Cheika had drafted in – Kiwi Cameron Jowitt – but he couldn’t get a look-in. “I knew I was a better player,” he recalls, “but I was struggling with confidence and has Cheiks in my face, pushing and challenging me.
“I had been struggling with injuries and I think Cheiks had decided I was a bit of a waste of time.”
From the very brink, McLaughlin survived. A superb performance off the bench for Leinster, away to Edinburgh, led to a Monday morning meeting with Cheika. McLaughlin says:
“Cheiks told me, ‘We’re going to bring you on; give you a two-year contract’. The following day I found out Cam had got chopped.”
McLaughlin’s story, told on The Hard Yards [12:50 below] struck a nerve with Ronan O’Gara and inspired some absolutely class advice to any young players trying to make it in the game.
“Brilliant story,” O’Gara exclaimed. “It’s exactly what it’s like as a professional rugby player.
“Usually when you’re at your lowest ebb, something breaks and I hope people remember that. It’s the game that pushes you to your limits. As you can see with Kev and the career he had, it’s fascinating.
“Sometimes, when everything is against you, you’ve got to hang in there, and hang in there. The only person that can fully convince you to do that is yourself. You, obviously, can take advice off a lot of people and get a close circle of friends you can trust and that will help get you there.
“Kev knew he was capable of getting there but, by God, was he pushed. That’s what happens so much and in Ireland it is so difficult because it is so competitive.”
While O’Gara credits Munster’s patient coaching staff and the senior players with giving him a chance to learn from his mistakes, McLaughlin came damn close to having a bitterly short rugby career.
Two different journeys but the fact that both men got through some incredibly tough times and emerged stronger should be an inspiration to the next generation coming through. And the one after that.
