D’Arcydetermined toaddtohisonecap

April 2002

Although he doesn’t say it straight out, Gordon D’Arcy leaves you in no doubt about the most disappointing period in his rugby career to date. It happened last autumn as he was preparing to add a second senior international cap to his fleeting appearance at the 1999 World Cup.

Following that 18-minute cameo against Romania three years ago, he was subsequently dropped from the Leinster team after one poor game, and his immediate international prospects dwindled.

Two years on, however, after a hard slog and a string of electrifying performance for his provinces, he was back in contention.

Irish coach, Warren Gatland, had selected him for an international match against Samoa, but two days before the match, D’Arcy injured his hamstring. A decision had to be made.

‘ The doctors eventually decided that it was too much of a risk to me and the team, so I was pulled out. It was very disappointing. To train for two years for that moment and then to be knocked back when you finally get it was very hard,’ he admitted.

Because of that injury, the Landsowne flier wasn’t considered for Ireland’s 2002 Six Nations campaign and his quest to banish the ‘one-cap wonder’ tag remains on hold. At least for now.

Gordon D’Arcy was introduced to rugby at a relatively late stage in life. Armed with the knowledge that he was destined to study at the famous rugby nursery of Clongowes, he decided that he had better find out a little about the game which so intrigued his future class-mates.

He started with Wexford Wanderers at Park Lane when he was 11, and played as a hooker until he was 16, when Clongowes mentors saw his preference for running rather than scrummaging and switched him to full-back.

In 1998, he helped the school’s senior team with the Schools Cup and moved no less than Tony Ward to pronounce his try against Blackrock that year as the best he had ever seen at any level.

His displays lately, of course, have all come on the wing, but playing outside of his favourite position isn’t holding him back. Aside from displays for his province, he is now on the verge of a historic Grand Slam with the Ireland ‘A’ team.

He’s pleased with his progress at present, but is experienced enough, even at 22, to realise the pitfalls of resting on his laurels.

‘My coach tells me every few weeks that as soon as I am happy with my game, I will never get better. I’m playing okay. I haven’t been finishing off as much, but as long as selectors like Eddie O’Sullivan see what I am getting through in a game, then that doesn’t really bother me,’ he says.

And now, although his sights are firmly set on making the panel for the senior tour to New Zealand in May, or for the round of international matches in the Autumn, his immediate aim is the ‘A’ team Grand Slam.

‘ This is a huge thing for everybody,’ he says. ‘Our performances have already put pressure on the senior team and a win over France in the final game will push us all into the limelight even more’.

(Note: D’Arcy ended up winning his second cap in November that year. He eventually played a total of 82 times for Ireland up to 2015, and was also part of the Lions tours to New Zealand in 2005 and South Africa in 2009).