DEVIN’S TRYING TIME IN KITCHEN Retired rugby ace finds scrum tough challenges in chef role
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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 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 Star: “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.
“And obviously a match is completely different, so it [the kitchen] is just tougher like.”
The 6ft 11in sports 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 ever match in June.
After enjoying his first few months of his retirement catching up on family time this summer, he said he jumped at the chance to put his other passion in life — cooking — to the test.
“I’m hugely competitive, absolutely, so anything that comes up I need to do well in it.
“I love cooking,” he added.
“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.”
Jogged
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. I wanted to take a break. “So I took my good break but I’m going to have to try to get back into something now.”
He 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: “Now I am kind of getting back into the working world.”