FROM IDLE PROP TO PROP IDOL
Two victories over Kiwis in eight months established Leinster star as one of best in the world
IT’S a long way to go from leaning over a kitchen draining board at Wicklow Rugby Club to revelling in the aftermath of a Lions Test win over New Zealand in Wellington, but that is the Hollywood-like journey Tadhg Furlong completed in just over six months.
In December 2016, Furlong was present at Leinster’s Provincial Towns Cup draw and by last July he had completed a Lions tour of duty in New Zealand.
What had happened in the intervening 30 weeks was an epic rise to the top of the pecking order. The then 24-year-old belied international inexperience to become not only Ireland’s first-choice tighthead ahead of veteran Mike Ross, but also Warren Gatland’s Lions Test series pick ahead of the far more seasoned Dan Cole who had six years, 58 caps and a previous Lions tour head start on the young upstart from Co Wexford. From idle prop to prop idol in such a short space of time.
Furlong was first noticed beyond the confines of Leinster at the 2015 World Cup. Not for his rugby, mind. He was sat alongside Paul O’Connell in the Millennium Stadium stands when Ireland made their quarterfinal exit, every TV shot of the injured skipper showed the then starry-eyed kid lapping up the accompanying attention.
Being part of the squad, however, was the making of him. Furlong absorbed what was required to become a Test level superstar. Yet, in December 2016, he refused to make a big deal of his progress the previous month when usurping Ross from the Ireland jersey. That breakthrough initially sparked speculation of him being a genuine Lions contender.
‘I’m really still bemused by that suggestion,’ he said in the Wicklow RFC kitchen. ‘As a young tighthead you don’t expect that to be thrown at you. I honestly don’t believe I am on the stage where I can be considered.
‘Lions year is a huge year for media hype and the lark. I’m just concentrating on getting my own game right. I’m still really inexperienced at international level, and even at Champions Cup level with Leinster. I’m under no illusions – I’ve a lot of work to do.’
Given the grounded vibe, it was a good job Stuart Lancaster, the ex-England coach just months into a new Leinster role, pulled him aside for the heartto-heart that made Furlong realise what he could achieve.
‘We sat down and he said, “From what I’ve seen, you can really push on and try to aim to be a Lion this year”. At first, I was , “What are you saying?”. You probably didn’t see yourself in that picture, but he backed you and gave you a focus and goal to drive towards.’ Seven months later, it was Gatland who was hailing Furlong for changing perceptions about modern game propping. The old prototype was for a big lump of a No3 to simply crouch down and keep up a scrum. Nothing else. However, Gatland’s endorsement for what Furlong brought to the Lions party was striking, considering the Kiwi is usually hard to impress. ‘Tadhg is getting better and better,’ enthused the former Ireland coach during the tour’s early weeks. ‘He’s still pretty green, but he has got something about him. He’s explosive and quick for a big man, surprisingly quick. He’s a good ball carrier and that is what we’re encouraging players to do – he’s the modern prop for me. ‘You have got to have more than just set-piece, scrum and lineout. You have got to be able to get around the pitch and defend, so in the next few years he is definitely going to be one of the world’s best in that position. He is just getting better and better and will come away from this tour having established himself as one of the top props in world rugby.’ The Lions’ series-levelling win in the Wellington rain was only the 11th Test match start in Furlong’s short career, but having beaten New Zealand the previous November in Chicago before wrapping up last July with a Lions draw in Auckland, he has an enviable strike rate of two wins and a draw from five meetings with the world champions. That is quite an achievement as Brian O’Driscoll was beaten in all 14 of his All Blacks fixtures while Paul O’Connell was unsuccessful in nine attempts. ‘I’m incredibly lucky,’ he said a week before the series was drawn at Eden Park. ‘I’d refer back to when we were playing New Zealand in Chicago with Ireland and lads had lost to New Zealand five or six times and I’d never played against them. ‘To beat New Zealand in my first game, knowing so many people had gone before, played them five or six times and never beaten them, legends of the game, you feel incredibly lucky. Privileged. And to do it twice, even more so.’
Furlong pays homage to Ross, the veteran who was nearly 13 years older than him when he first began taking steps along the Leinster pathway. He’s now happy to play a mentor’s role to the likes of Andrew Porter and other young indigenous tightheads making their way through the system in Dublin.
‘Mike put his arm around me when I came in to the academy and you’d hope to do the same for the young lads coming through because it’s not about you, it’s about the squad and developing players to come through to better the squad,’ said Furlong.
Fresh from agreeing a promotion from a Leinster deal to an IRFU central contract through to summer 2021, he has never forgotten his roots either despite settling in the capital. Reared on a beef farm in Campile, he still regularly gets down to New Ross to watch the club where he learned his trade. He was even in Co Wexford for Christmas, driving to Limerick on Stephen’s Day morning for Leinster’s derby destruction of Munster.
‘All my friends are still back home and I’ve a hell of a lot of ties with the rugby club,’ he explained a year ago before his star went into overdrive.
‘I grew up in New Ross Rugby Club, in there from the age of four or five. The father coached teams and I’d go in with him on a Tuesday and Thursday, messing around with lads a lot older than me. He was one of the alickadoos, would be at every home game for the firsts, and I spent so many evenings there. It’s where I come from, where I grew up, and it’s incredibly important.’
Too many anodyne players – dull and with little to say – now emerge from the modern era academy system but Furlong’s personality, oozing rural charm and wit, is cut from different cloth.
It was something that was plain to see last August when the prop attended the Ashbourne RFC summer camp with Carlow native and fellow Lion Sean O’Brien. No amount of selfie or autograph requests was too much for him as every kid left with a beaming smile.
His popularity should persist for a long time to come yet. Furlong was just 22 when first capped by Ireland. That’s a five-year head start on John Hayes, the 99-time cap widely lauded as the greatest Irish tighthead of all time. A seven-year head start on Ross, who clocked up 61 appearances. Safe to say then that the future looks very bright for a 25-year-old who broke the prop mould in 2017.
‘FOR A BIG MAN, HE IS EXPLOSIVE AND SURPRISINGLY QUICK’