Larmour feeling at home at Aviva after putting head down
WHAT a difference a year makes. Rewind 12 months, and Jordan Larmour was the star of the show as he ran in two tries in a narrow one point defeat of Italy. However, there were less than 4,000 in Prato’s Stadio Enrico Chersoni to witness that latest bit of Larmour magic for the Ireland Under 20s, as the real action was 300km south of the city, where Joe Schmidt’s charges ran in nine tries past the Italians in Rome. Larmour was going well for the U20s, but without a Leinster cap to his name, the prospect of senior honours wasn’t on the immediate horizon. However, the 20-year-old’s progress with Leinster has been stunning, and Saturday’s rout of Italy presented the first chapter in what many hope will be a long and fruitful international career. ‘If you told me I’d be playing here last year, I wouldn’t have believed you,’ he said, shortly after the full-time whistle. But it just proves that hard work and determination, just putting the head down can take you places.’ Supporters had to wait until the 45th minute to see the latest Leinster prodigy take to the field, but it wasn’t quite a fairytale debut as Larmour struggled to get involved as the game opened up and Italy began to test their hosts. ‘A few of the lads just told me to stay calm and stay relaxed the whole time, just play your own game,’ he explained. ‘It was basically just “do what you’ve been doing all year so far”, so that gave me a bit of confidence and I just took it day by day, did as much as I could in training to prepare myself for the game. I felt comfortable out there.’ It was also a memorable evening for Leinster teammate Andrew Porter, who struggled to remember the last time he would have clocked up as many minutes in a game. ‘Jeez, I must have been playing for UCD,’ he reckoned. It’s not too often that a tighthead prop plays 76 minutes, but with Tadhg Furlong limping off after less than five minutes, that’s exactly what was asked of Porter. It was just his fourth cap at this level, but the 22-year-old acquitted himself admirably. ‘I was a bit shocked to be coming on after three minutes but that’s what Joe has us prepared for,’ Porter continued. ‘It was a bit of an adrenaline rush when I did come on. ‘I tried to get involved as much as possible. I’ll have a look over the game and I think there is probably a bit to improve on everywhere. I’ll be prepared as best I can, it would be very exciting [to start against Wales]. I can only dream of starting Test matches for Ireland.’