O’Loughlin channels ‘frustration’ in right manner to remind coach of his quality

EVERY successful club needs a versatile player like Rory O’Loughlin, who regardless of the position he is asked to play invariably delivers a quality performance. Quiet and assuming, he has quickly become an unheralded but extremely important member of a top-class squad that is full of household names.

That the 24-year old made his 50th appearance for Leinster on Saturday night with the minimum of fuss in many ways sums up O’Loughlin’s modest character. “It crept up,” he says.

“No one really knew it was my 50th. Obviously I knew, but my mum, said it to me this morning: ‘Jeez, I didn’t know you had played that many times.’ It was a nice way to cap it. I’m really delighted.”

With all of the front-line internationals fit and available, it is almost impossible to break into Leinster’s starting XV, but it is no coincidence that Leo Cullen regularly selects O’Loughlin (pictured) on the bench as cover.

The former St Michael’s student is as comfortable on either wing as he is in midfield and with Robbie Henshaw and Joe Tomane currently ruled out, there is a real chance for O’Loughlin to start staking his claim.

That he has become a reliable player who can plug holes across the back-line works in his favour, yet one wonders if he would rather be concentrating on attempting to nail down one particular spot?

“You would always like to have a set position, but it’s so competitive in that back-line that whatever opportunity I get, I’m going to have to take it,” O’Loughlin insists.

“I’m happy to do it. To be starting in Europe in a team like this is the goal really.

“I would rather be playing any position in this team than a set position in another team, at the moment. “For me, if I can start in Europe, that’s what I have been told by all the coaches – regular game-time in Europe is going to take youtothe next level. “Ifitwasa case I wasn’t starting at all or getting any opportunities to start in a game like this, then maybe I would get frustrated, but at the moment I am happy to take it when it comes.”

That he put in a man-of-thematch performance, in which he scored a really well-worked try off a strike play on the big European stage, will have helped ease some of the frustrations at having been overlooked instead of Noel Reid for last week’s game in Bath.

That O’Loughlin did so in front of the onlooking Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell will have made it all the sweeter.

His one and only Ireland cap came in Japan on last year’s summer tour and having not been selected since then, O’Loughlin knows exactly what he needs to do to catch Schmidt’s eye ahead of the World Cup.

“Whenever I’ve talked to Joe it’s always been, ‘games in Europe, seeing you play in big games in Europe’, and it’s been frustrating,” he admits.

“Last year I got injuries at the wrong time and kind of missed out.

“Even when lads were injured I missed out on Europe and that was always the feedback, that he wanted to see me play in Europe.

“And again last week I was just coming back from injury and while I kind of understood why they didn’t want to throw me in, it was kind of frustrating, I suppose.

“But when I got the opportunity to start this week that was just always on my mind, putting in a performance and making it as hard as possible for a coach to drop you, I suppose, and I think I did alright.”

Cullen could see that aforementioned frustration in O’Loughlin last week and the Leinster head coach was understandably delighted to see him channel it in exactly the right manner.

“Rory was disappointed not to get the nod last week, he gets the nod this week and maybe takes out some of the frustration he had as well,” Cullen maintains.

“We’ll always ask the questions about selections.

“Again it’s just trying to drive that competition in the group and they’re all trying to fight for each one because we don’t rely on any one person, and that’s the beauty of it.

“That’s what we try to push because we’ve got a lot of quality players that are unavailable for selection at the moment through injury.”

With the games coming thick and fast over the coming festive period, O’Loughlin has a wonderful chance to rack up plenty of game time before the Champions Cup returns on January 12, with the mouthwatering clash against Toulouse at the RDS.

“It’s not about putting too much pressure on yourself, it’s about taking each opportunity,” O’Loughlin adds.

“I am sure the team will change a lot over the next few weeks with games in such close proximity and I could be playing at 13, 12 or on the wing.

“It’s just about putting in a performance whenever I can and getting back into the team for the next round of Europe.

“That’s what I am being gauged on at the moment so that’s what is on my mind.”