TOUGH CALL FOR TIERNAN
CONNACHT full-back Tiernan O’Halloran said that his recent decision to extend his stay at the Sportsground was the toughest decision he has had to make since he starting signing contracts as a teenager.
The Clifden native won’t be 27 until next month but is already in his ninth season with Connacht, having made his debut against Olympus Madrid in the Challenge Cup in 2009.
His omission from the Ireland squad for the November internationals coupled with interest from elsewhere — with Munster, apparently, quite keen — cast doubts over his future in the west but just before Christmas he penned a two-year extension.
‘I have been here for nine seasons now but this is home for me. I have grown up my whole life wanting to play for Connacht. I watched Connacht all the way growing up as a child, it is a special place for me, I have got friends here, family here, so it was a tough decision.
‘Obviously, you have interest from other places but the way I look at it is that my goal always was to play for Ireland and I was able to play for Ireland representing Connacht.
‘The way I saw it was that if I was able to get into that set-up and play for my country while representing Connacht then there is no reason why I can’t keep doing that, because, at the end of the day, that is down to me as a player and an individual, to work on those skills and develop those skills to put in those performances with my team every weekend and, hopefully, that will get me back into an international squad.’
O’Halloran made his Ireland debut in South Africa in 2016 and added three more caps on the tour to the USA and Japan last summer, but he was not included in Joe Schmidt’s plans for the November series.
‘I think not being in the November internationals was a big thing as well, it probably played on my mind a bit as well, talk inside your head that maybe this isn’t the right place for you but, at the end of the day, it got me in there in the first place.
‘But, yes, it probably was the toughest decision I have made so far in terms of contracts,’ said O’Halloran, who has chalked up 140 appearances for the westerners.
Meanwhile, Cian Kelleher will miss tomorrow’s clash against Munster at Thomond Park after he suffered a knock to the head against Leinster, which has resulted in the winger following the return to play protocols.
He is Connacht’s only new injury concern but there was confirmation yesterday that loosehead prop Denis Buckley has undergone ankle surgery this week on an injury picked up last month against Brive and he will be out until mid-February.
O’Halloran, a winger two years ago when Connacht won at Thomond Park for the only time in the professional era, said they know Munster will be fired-up but that they will go there with confidence after some good results in recent years against their nearest rivals.
‘I have had a few wins against Munster but they are coming off a couple of losses so we are under no illusions going down to Thomond Park, one of the toughest places you can play rugby, a hostile crowd and they will be pumped up for that game.
‘It’s an inter-pro game, lads are playing for international places and things like that. We are under no illusions but we made history in Thomond Park a couple of years ago and that’s something we can think about going back down there,’ added O’Halloran, who scored a try in that 18-12 win two years ago on their way to winning the Pro12 title.