Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’M WINGING & SINGING
Instant hit Hugo hopes to strike right notes in Paris tonight as title win hovers on horizon
IT seems like a strange choice for a rugby player but Hugo Keenan reckons his traditional initiation song went down well.
The 24-year-old was one of four Irish debutants against Italy last Saturday who later had to mark the occasion by belting out a tune in front of team-mates at a capping ceremony in the Shelbourne Hotel.
Not even a scintillating two-try show could spare him the experience.
But, funnily enough , Nat a s h a B e di n g f i e l d ’s Unwritten contains some fitting lyrics relating to Ireland’s cause in Paris and to Keenan’s own fledgling Test career.
“Reaching for something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it,” Keenan sang to his peers.
The words perfectly sum up tonight’s task in what can’t be described as the Stade de France cauldron – due to the absence of 80,000 baying fans – but for what nevertheless will be a really difficult proposition. Only a bonus point win will do if Ireland are certain to win the Six Nations title.
As the Ireland players have stated all week, the focus is just on doing the right things to win the game – and see what happens after that. Victory alone would be a big deal as it would give Andy Farrell a four-win campaign i n his f irst championship, something that looked unlikely after the team’s decline and fall at Twickenham back in February. Keenan can’t recall where he was when Johnny Sexton conjured up that remarkable drop goal to beat Les Bleus when the sides last met in St Denis.
“But I can remember the feeling,” he added. “It was unbelievable. It was incredible.
“I remember they did a bit of a crossfield kick before it and the buildup play was incredible. It’s such a tough place to go. That’s the dream really, a clutch moment from him that will live in the memory. Hopefully we can get the win over there and it will be equally special.
“It’ll be a new situation for me but we know that if we get the bonus point win that’ll be enough.
“But we’ll be focusing on the win first. Having the target means we know what we have to do and what will be enough. It probably does help to know.
“They’re always tough, tight games. It’s only three or four times that Ireland have come away with a win there.
“We know it’s going to be such a big challenge but that’s the position we want to be in.”
There was never any doubt about Keenan keeping his place on the left wing, despite the gravity of the occasion.
The former Sevens starlet has been in excellent form ever since rugby’s restart, pushing his way to the front for all of Leinster’s big games before his Ireland call-up.
But with James Lowe becoming Ireland eligible in time for next month’s Autumn Nations Cup, Keenan needs to keep his foot on the accelerator.
“O n e h u n d r e d p e r c e n t ,” admitted the Dubliner. “There’s so much competition. James has been unbelievable for
Leinster and he’s raring to go for Ireland now.”