(Srightw) NEVER IN MY ED
Twickenham, March 9
CIARAN FRAWLEY never did get a call from Eddie Jones – but the answer would have been no anyway.
Frawley was aware of the speculation. Born in Sydney of emigrant Irish parents, his family came home to north Dublin when he was three.
So he qualified for Australia and there was interest in bringing him on board before he was capped by Ireland.
“I was in and out of Ireland camps from 2021 I think,” he said. “And I felt my time was coming.
“I had a few injuries along the way and obviously I was still qualified for Australia.
“But I never had a phone call with Eddie Jones. I knew there was interest from over there but I was never going to go.
“I’ve lived in Ireland since I was three years old, Ireland was my home. I don’t want to move to the other side of the world when I felt I had the potential to do what I actually wanted to do.”
Fast forward to now and Frawley is on cloud nine.
That first cap was a fair while coming. The 26-year-old got 40 minutes against Italy in the World Cup warm-ups but, although he brought versatility right across the backline, Frawley didn’t make the final cut for France 2023.
The Skerries man then got onto the pitch for a minute in Marseille to make his Six Nations debut a month ago.
And, when Hugo Keenan suffered a knee injury against Italy, Andy Farrell decided Frawley was the best man to step in at full-back.
Wales didn’t test him but he did well, bringing his out-half sensibilities to the No.15 role.
“I just want to play,” he admitted. “That’s the main thing. I want to play in big games.
“I’ve kind of understood now at this stage. The way I see it is I think like a 10, I feel like I play like a 10.
“But I probably have the ability to jump into other positions and do a job there.”