It’s tough but I’ll cook up something scrummy
New ball game for ex-rugby ace Devin as he tackles life as a chef
RETIRED rugby ace Devin Toner admits the heat of the kitchen was a whole different ball game to tackle - as he swapped the scrum for the saucepan on The Restaurant.
And the former Leinster player, who is the is first celebrity to star in the new season of the Virgin Media cooking show tonight, said his time in the televised kitchen has given him a whole new appreciation for the work chefs do.
The Meath man told the Irish Mirror: “It was tough. You are on your feet from nine o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock at night.
“Like literally on your feet the whole time so I have a newfound respect for chefs, absolutely. It was very tough like.”
Asked how the long day cooking up a storm compared to some of his bigger outings on the field, the 36-year-old added: “It’s just completely different, you know. Just even standing for that long.
TOUGHER
“And obviously a match is completely different, so [the kitchen] is just tougher like.”
The 6ft 11ins star made his Leinster debut in 2006 and won 70 Ireland caps, including being part of three Six Nations title-winning teams, highlighted by a
Grand Slam four years ago. He decided to hang up his boots earlier this year – and played his last match on June.
After enjoying his first few months of his retirement catching up with his family this summer, he said he jumped at the chance to put his other passion in life – cooking– to the test.
He added: “I’m hugely competitive, absolutely, so anything that comes up I need to do well in it.
“I love cooking. I’ve always sort of been into it, so when the opportunity came up I jumped at it because I wanted to test myself and see how I would get on.
“It was something that I’ve never done before and I’ve obviously just retired so
I thought it would be an exciting and enjoyable thing to do, so I jumped at it.”
FITNESS
Aside from his stint on the show, the athlete said he’s even been enjoying taking a break from his lifelong fitness regime, and said laughing: “I haven’t even jogged since my last game, so I think I have put on a few kilos.
“So I think I know I have to get back into it, and do something but I haven’t done it yet.
“But I was training for 17 years. So I took my good break but I’m going to have to try to get back into something now.” Devin has instead been busy throwing himself into a brand new challenge as he enters a new phase in his newly-retired life – in the form of his new 9-5 office job.
He said: “I took July and August off and now I am kind of getting back into the working world.
“I’m dipping my toe into the financial services industry so I am kind of getting used to going to work in a shirt and trousers. It’s a bit different to training and wearing shorts and a jersey everyday.”
The father-of-two said it has come as a welcome change to his family life as he looks forward to free weekends and evenings for the first time in two decades. He said: “It’s different but so far it is quite enjoyable.
“One of the main things I wanted when I retired from rugby was my weekends back, so I’ve never been
able to enjoy weekends before.
“So being able to plan stuff, and plan things in advance, holidays and stuff, it’s a huge novelty for me so I am loving it.”
The Restaurant airs on Virgin Media One and player at 9pm tonight.