Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
RORY ZEST
Retained as the Ireland skipper, hooker now targeting trophies
RORY BEST watches his eldest son lift trophies for Ulster and Ireland back on their farm and hopes there’s still time to do it himself in real life.
Young Ben is living out a dream that his dad believes is still within reach and, as skipper of province and country at 35, he’s still very much central to the plans of Les Kiss and Joe Schmidt.
When this evening’s clash with South Africa gets underway, the experienced hooker will be winning his 106th Ireland cap.
A chat with Schmidt (inset top) in a summer camp confirmed that Best will retain the captaincy for at least one more year. The World Cup in Japan will follow in 2019.
Having played on the side that won the Six Nations title during Schmidt’s first two years in charge, Best would love to lift the trophy as Ireland captain.
That’s before even contemplating a shot at the World Cup when he will be 37.
Restored to the
Ulster captaincy this season, Best’s hopes of the province claiming outright success in the PRO14 or the Champions Cup in a similar time frame are slim on current form.
And if it doesn’t happen on either front? “It would be very brash to say I’d be unfulfilled,” he stated.
“You just may not get the break – and who knows when you might have to retire? But ultimately the highlights in my career are those two championships in 2014 and 2015 because we won silverware.
“To do that as captain would be absolutely massive. Something I’ve never done is go up to lift a piece of silverware leading a team and that’s the dream.
“My eldest is seven. He’s out in the garden kicking the ball around and at the end he’s always the guy that walks up and lifts the trophy.
“That’s what young kids dream of doing and it’s no different whether you’re five, 15 or 35. But ultimately you’ve got to take everything back to your role within the team to make sure they perform.”
Best had a hamstring problem in the run-up to this series. Since he was on Lions duty, where he performed an important role as the midweek team’s captain, he has only lined out twice for Ulster.
There was uncertainty over his Ireland involvement this month and inevitably speculation that Schmidt may be ready to appoint a new captain with Johnny Sexton (inset bottom), Peter O’mahony and Sean O’brien the main names in the frame.
“I understand why people want to talk about my age and have the debate,” Best admitted. “But it’s not really something I’m interested in.
“Joe asked me to captain the side again and I’m very happy to do it.
“Until I feel that my body starts to let me down – the hamstring injury can happen to anyone.
“If anything, for me, it is probably a sign I’m getting faster if I’m getting it at this stage!”