CON HIS CASE FOR A DECADE
Cooney’s pursuit of Murray is driving him on to greater heights
JOHN COONEY has been chasing Conor Murray for a decade but hopes his kicking game can be a World Cup ace card.
The pursuit began at the U20 world championships in France, when Murray started at scrum-half in the opener against the hosts and Cooney was on the bench.
“I was a year younger, playing under-20s, and it was him and Matt Healy at scrum-half,” recalled Cooney.
“I was sub for the first game with Conor, I threw the ball over (Ian) Madigan’s head... and got dropped.”
Murray will start in Rome on Sunday, with Cooney on the bench. It was the same scenario against England and Scotland in recent weeks. The chase continues.
But their paths diverged wildly for a long time after that under-20s tournament.
While Murray (inset) was busy establishing himself as Munster and Ireland’s No9,
Cooney struggled for regular game time at Leinster and headed west in 2014.
It was with Connacht that the Dubliner eventually found his feet after three shoulder surgeries.
The positive thinking that is now inherent in his make-up came from support close to home, but also from seeing a psychologist while in Galway.
“It’s easy to give up but I had people who believed in me,” he said.
“When I was second, third, fourth choice in Connacht, I’d this mentality where I’d train as if I was an international, as if I was number one. That mentality really made a big difference. “I was holding myself to international standards when I was nowhere near that.
“It’s something I still try to do. We all play a little differently. I feel I can add to the team. It’s baby steps. I’ve been patient. It’s just getting more game time, going from there.”
Cooney joined Ulster in 2017 and was an instant success. But the move could have been banjaxed on his first road trip to Belfast.
“I got a flat tyre on my drive up to see them. I was four hours late,” he recalled. “I couldn’t believe it. I saw the petrol station, so I was able to get there.
“When I went to change the tyre, the locknut broke.”
Cooney’s best friend, Aenghus Cody, rescued him and got him to the meeting.
“Les Kiss was pretty happy that I still got there,” said Cooney. “The next day they offered me a contract. And Aenghus wants to be my agent now!”
Suddenly Cooney was a leading man as he slipped on Ruan Pienaar’s old No9 jersey.
“There was pressure but I don’t think it really phased me,” Cooney explained.
“I’m sure people were disappointed to lose Ruan and mightn’t have known much about me.
“But I knew putting it all on the field would make them warm to me.
“I remember hearing it on the radio and thinking, ‘This is a massive opportunity’. I knew this is where I wanted to go.”