When all is said and done, Jamie Heaslip could very well be remembered as the best 8 Ireland has ever had.
We’re talking about a man here who sleeps in a high altitude tent during pre-season.
A man who rails against overly processed foods, preaches the value of whole food nutrition, takes supplements before, during and after training so he’s not missing a window to improve his body in whatever way he can.
Someone who rarely misses anything – training or games – and you’d do damn well to find him on his knees stricken down with injury at any stage of his career.
This is a guy who experts once said wasn’t far off being a neanderthal when they studied his DNA.
On Monday morning, Jamie Heaslip announced his retirement from international rugby with a poignant statement.
The Leinster legend bows out after making 100 appearances for his country and the Lions combined. 100. You don’t do that if you’re not a special talent. You don’t do it if you’re not made in someway different to the rest of them because Heaslip has reached a century of international caps in just over 10 years.
SportsJOE’s Hard Yards pundit Kevin McLaughlin has seen Heaslip’s monster effect in close quarters at Leinster.
He’s seen what Heaslip is capable of and McLaughlin told the story of how Leinster did a recovery test back in their heyday and pushed players to and beyond their limits to see how their bodies would respond.
When they tested Heaslip, they were said to have found that the amount of red blood cells his body was replenishing was off the charts. He was healing faster than how a mortal should. His body was ready to go again back into the fray when a normal man would’ve been bowled over from the work.
But we’ve almost become expectant of that of Heaslip now. We nearly take his yard-gaining for granted. We sometimes dismiss what he brings to the pack and we’re spoiled by his relentless consistency.
- You’d forget that he’s second only to CJ Stander in Six Nations carrying stats (across all six countries).
- You wouldn’t realise that people like Shane Williams call Ireland’s back row the best in the world.
- You wouldn’t appreciate that Jamie Heaslip is the first Irish man in the gym every morning.
Ahead of Ireland’s clash with Wales, Heaslip’s assessment of the longevity of his career was pure humble.
“No,” he said of the thought that he’d hit 100 back when he was starting.
“It was around then or shortly after when Leams [Denis Leamy] was getting 50 I think. I remember thinking to myself, ‘Jaysus that’s pretty awesome’ and I remember hearing – I was really young – and I remember Brian say if you’re hitting 50 you’re an established international.
“That was always the goal. After that I’ve just been very, very lucky.”
On Friday night, he’ll double it. And, 100 caps later, he goes in with the same devastating and unshakable effect.
It’s feels like forever ago since his 2006 Autumn International debut against the Pacific Islands. It feels that way because we’ve gotten used to seeing him fill the number eight jersey and organising the forwards and leading from the front. We’ve grown comfortable in the knowledge that he’ll just always be there.
“You are running around like a chicken who has just got his head cut off,” Heaslip said of his debut in Patrick McCarry’s book, The New Breed.
“The whole day is a bit of a blur. I just remember running around like an absolute lunatic, literally.
“Paddy Wallace got man of the match and I remember trying to follow Paddy the whole day because he was making breaks for fun. I was trying to run off him and get the ball off him the whole time. You are trying to showcase yourself and also trying not to mess up, especially under Eddie’s tutelage. I haven’t thought about it in a long time. It was a very special day.”
Heaslip and Ireland have come a long way since then. But what he has done for his country in that time in between should never be underappreciated.
Jamie Heaslip is an Ireland legend. And he’s a freak of nature too.
