For a sizeable chunk of the Leinster and Irish players, their only defeat in a truly brilliant season was in the final game of their campaign, against La Rochelle in the Champions Cup final last May. Admittedly, injuries restricted Tadhg Furlong to a dozen appearances for province and country, but even so it seemed a cruel fate.
Nor has the bitter taste gone away entirely, although the same seasonal finale last year led to Ireland winning a series in New Zealand and Furlong admits it will be a spur too.
“I suppose you set yourself up so well and you do all the work during the year and to come up short again is disappointing but it’s something that drives you.”
“It was gutting at the time and it’s still gutting. You tend to move on past these things and look at what’s next, but definitely it was low after the final.”
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For the 30-year-old Ireland and Lions tighthead, this will be a third World Cup, having been brought to the 2015 tournament as an uncapped 22-year-old by Joe Schmidt in part as an investment in the future.
“First one I was a chap really. I was still finding my way in rugby, never mind international rugby, and life really. So, it all kind of happened really quickly. I was obviously covering loosehead and tighthead at the time, played 15 or 20 odd minutes off the bench against Romania in Wembley. A full-house. Madness.”
The 2019 tournament in Japan, when a Lions Test starter, was altogether more disappointing but third time around Furlong believes: “You know more about yourself and what you need to do.
“You think of the Six Nations and it’s two weeks on and then a down-week. You get that mental break from rugby. I come down to Wexford to see grass, get fresh air etc. When you are away together for that period of time as a group then how do you stay fresh and stay at it? They are some of the biggest learnings for me.”
Furlong made his Test debut in that Romanian game when introduced in the 63rd minute off the bench along with Paul O’Connell, whose influence as the current forwards coach Furlong simply describes as “massive”.
“Paulie is very detailed in his approach and is huge on habits that not just happen in the game but how you build those through the week and all the time. He’s really nailed down techniques and roles for us, in our lineout, our maul, our goal-line attack. There’s so much to it.
“Paulie is Paulie. Obviously, he has so much experience as a player and credibility with that, as well as his ability to speak to a group and grab people and bring them with him. It’s underpinned because you know how much work he’s after putting in on the laptop and how much time he’s after thinking. You follow him.”
While no Irish team has had a tougher draw, nor has one ever arrived at a World Cup with a better body of recent work.
“You reflect on the journey we’ve been on over four years. We went into the last World Cup number one as well, but we had a really poor Six Nations whereas we’re coming off the back of a decent run of form now and it feels credible within the group to believe we can push on, and I think that’s important when you go to a World Cup.
“That being said, every team goes into a World Cup campaign or a preseason saying ‘we’ll start afresh’ and ‘we’re going to get as fit as we can, spend some proper time together within the environment to really nail down our game’.
“We’re no different but we feel there’s a lot of potential left in us and we’re excited about where we can bring our game. If that’s good enough, time will tell.”
Enjoying one of the Irish squad’s down weeks, Furlong is an ambassador for the Tackle Your Feelings campaign in conjunction with Rugby Players Ireland and Zurich. He recently visited his old school Good Counsel College in New Ross to highlight the work of the TYF Schools programme to promote mental wellbeing.
“I am very fond of my school, I had a great time there, but I recognise that it is not a straight line for everyone and you are at that kind of stage in adolescence.
“I went to an ‘all boys’ school where it can be a little bit macho and you are not having the smoothest of rides. Maybe it’s exams or trying to mix. Maybe it is something not going your way. It is something that hit home with me when the opportunity came, to maybe share some of my experiences from rugby.”
In this regard, Furlong said the environment around rugby, which is particularly true within the culture created by Andy Farrell.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a hundred-capper like a few lads in the squad or it’s your first day in. There’s no social hierarchy. Does it work for us? It definitely makes the group closer together, leaving those shackles off. That’s so important.
“Rugby wasn’t always like that, is that the easiest way to say it? But to be involved in a group of people who believe in it and practice it, it’s a very enjoyable place to spend time.”
Last month Furlong had a particularly memorable long weekend in the green grass and fresh air of home when he and his long-term partner Aine Lacey celebrated their wedding with families and friends at a reception in the Dunbrody Country House Hotel.
Asked the name of the song when they entered the reception, Furlong revealed cheerily: “Great Balls of Fire.”
Rugby Players Ireland is teaming up with Tadhg Furlong, for a new content series centred on his journey back to his school Good Counsel College in New Ross to spotlight the work of the Tackle Your Feelings (TYF) Schools programme to promote mental wellbeing. The new Tackle Your Feelings video, is available here: https://youtu.be/-mo_UkloTaA.
