GIBSON-PARK HAS IRISH AMBITION
SAYS JAMISON GIBSON-PARK
JAMISON Gibson-Park is set to be one of the last of the Irish foreign legion.
The Leinster scrum-half — born and reared on Great Barrier Island, located 60 miles from New Zealand’s north shore — qualifies for Ireland via the three-year residency rule in June of next year.
Spearheaded by trailblazing vicechairman Agustin Pichot, World Rugby have clamped down on that controversial ruling, with the qualification period extended to five years from January 2021 onwards.
Ireland’s project player programme has come in for much criticism, and it looks like the IRFU will need to change tack in the coming years. The likes of CJ Stander and Bundee Aki were approached by the IRFU in their native lands with the promise of lucrative contracts and the lure of Test rugby if they made a longterm commitment to the Irish cause.
There have been plenty of others. Munster’s South African lock Jean Kleyn will qualify for Ireland a month before next year’s World Cup in Japan. Kleyn’s teammate Tyler Bleyendaal — who captained New Zealand at Under 20 level — became Irish qualified back in January.
Joe Schmidt has never been afraid to bring project players into the fold. Ireland’s head coach has capped eight of them on his watch — Stander, Aki, Rodney Ah You, Richardt Strauss, Nathan White, Quinn Roux, Robbie Diack and Jared Payne.
When Ben Te’o qualified on residency during his three-year stay at Leinster, Schmidt was in touch. Te’o was giving it serious thought until a phone call from Eddie Jones — and a big-money offer from Worcester — turned his head. His east London-born mother put him on England’s radar and now the former rugby league superstar — of Samoan descent — is wearing the Red Rose at Twickenham.
Gibson-Park is set to be the next cab off the rank next June and the former Wellington Hurricanes scrum-half is open to joining Schmidt’s green machine. ‘Yeah absolutely,’ he said. ‘It’s what we’re here for, to play at the highest level, it’s something I’ve always aspired to do, but I have to focus on what’s going on here first.
‘We’ve got an exciting block of games coming up and I want to be playing as much as I can so it’s up to me really to go out and perform as best as I can to make it tough for the coaches to pick a nine. That’s the most exciting thing at the moment.’
Gibson-Park will have to join a long queue when he comes into the Ireland reckoning in seven months’ time.
Conor Murray is hitting his straps again after a five-month spell on the sidelines managing a neck injury. In the Munster man’s absence last month, his understudies Kieran Marmion and Luke McGrath made their cases for further inclusion.
Then there’s Ulster general John Cooney who continues to stockpile man-of-the-match awards in Belfast.
‘I don’t know what their plans are, but there are four pretty good nines in the country and they’re all playing pretty well,’ the Kiwi agreed.
‘They look as though they’re set in those positions but you never know what could happen over the next while. As I’d always say, the focus is on what’s going on here, trying to get the nine jersey for Leinster first.’
He has grown accustomed to the role of impact sub. During his time at the Hurricanes, Gibson-Park played second fiddle to All Blacks scrum-half TJ Perenara before he made the big move to Leinster.
McGrath is very much the main man under Leo Cullen’s watch, but Gibson-Park has never been far from the reckoning.
‘Coming from the Hurricanes I didn’t start a match that whole season, they had TJ Perenara, so I was coming off the bench pretty much every week,’ he explained.
‘I just have to make it as hard as I can for the coaches to pick a nine because Luke is probably the No1 at the minute, that’s clear, he’s starting in Europe, all I can do really is put the pressure on in games and training. That’s only going to be good for the both of us, to push each other on.’
Gibson-Park had developed a good understanding with his fellow Kiwi James Lowe. Last Saturday, Leinster’s replacement scrumhalf spotted Lowe running at some weary Bath defenders. Lowe — as he so often does — broke the first tackle and got his hands free for the offload. Gibson-Park had read his compatriot perfectly and ran an instinctive support line to score Leinster’s sixth try of the night.
‘He’s pretty much always going to get his hands free, you can nearly guarantee it,’ added Gibson-Park.
‘He’s a tough guy to mark oneon-one, if he gets a chance he’ll get his hands free.
‘It’s something you adapt to. In Super Rugby, guys are all across the park doing it and you just try and put yourself in the right place at the right time I suppose.
‘It’s good playing with Lowey, he creates a lot of opportunities for us. He hits the ground running.’