Craig Casey’s hamstring injury has denied Saturday’s United Rugby Championship match at Croke Park another mano-a-mano duel that boasts an Ireland squad connotation. Not that Jamison Gibson-Park would have fixated on that aspect when immersed in the collision of provincial rivals Leinster and Munster.
He prioritises team over other considerations, content to focus on his role as a metronome in human form, someone who dictates his side’s in-game tempo. The same could be said of Casey, whose stature grew in the summer when he captained Ireland in a couple of Tests against Georgia and Portugal. On and off the pitch, the Munster scrumhalf was eloquent.
During the same time frame Gibson-Park was an integral part of the British & Irish Lions’ success in beating Australia 2-1 in the Test series. He played 347 minutes across five matches for Andy Farrell’s squad, deservedly retaining a status as first-choice scrumhalf even when faced with Alex Mitchell’s brilliance.
Ireland’s November squad: valuable rotation or more of the same?
Gibson-Park versus Casey is nowhere near as divisive for supporters as the argument over who should wear the Irish number 10 jersey. Using the boxing parlance of “in the blue corner and in the red corner” seems eerily apposite in addressing the often-heated verbal sparring between fans when debating the merits of Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley. Saturday brings that rivalry from the abstract to the tangible.
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There is no such brouhaha about who should be the starting scrumhalf for Ireland’s first Test in the November series, against New Zealand in Soldier Field, Chicago on Saturday, November 1st. Gibson-Park (33) is Ireland’s number one, Casey (26) has confidently stepped into the role of understudy, for now, while – based on Wednesday’s squad announcement – Connacht’s Caolin Blade (31) is next in line.
The evidence-based premise is that Gibson-Park, at his best, has no peer. His challenge is to maintain those lofty standards and that will be facilitated at Leinster and Ireland by being pushed to do so. On Saturday, he will play his first match of the season. The likelihood is that he may not line out again for Leinster before the Champions Cup in December.
Leo Cullen’s squad have two URC matches before then: on Saturday week at the Aviva Stadium against Zebre, and then a trip to Rodney Parade to take on the Dragons on Friday, November 28th.
There is always a balance to be struck between ensuring that a player is refreshed after a long season that smouldered in the embers of the summer and offering sufficient game time to guarantee match sharpness.
Speaking to the media earlier in the week, Gibson-Park admitted to being mentally tired after the Lions series. “To be fair, it’s been one season where I felt like I needed a bit of a rest. Other times I’m probably a little bit naive, thinking I could bounce back in and go again. But this year, I was pretty tired for whatever reason.”
He’s had other distractions too, his wife Patti is recovering from recent ACL surgery from a judo injury that dates back to June, so he’s been on the school runs.
It won’t surprise anyone to learn that the Prendergast-Crowley roadshow (or sideshow, take your pick) was tossed in Gibson-Park’s direction, not unreasonably given his close on-pitch proximity.
“I’ve been really impressed with both of them, how they’ve taken to international footy.
“I mean the reality is they’re in the toughest position on the team. They have to do the marshalling, they have to run a week, all these kinds of things, which for young fellas can be pretty daunting at times, but they’ve taken it pretty well.
“They’ve both learned things over the last couple of years that hopefully they can implement, but it’s just the reality of the position they’re in, and coming after Johnny Sexton, which is not an easy thing to do. That’s always been the way down the years with Irish rugby (with Ronan) O’Gara and Sexto.
[ Friendships parked ahead of first Leinster-Munster showdown of the seasonOpens in new window ]
“From my perspective, I’ve been pretty impressed by how they’ve taken to it. There’s always going to be media scrutiny, all these kinds of things coming at them. But for young lads, they’ve handled it really well.”
Gibson-Park will face another young scrumhalf at Croke Park, Munster’s Ethan Coughlan. The Clare man will square off against the gold standard for the position.
On Leinster’s bench is another in the foothills of his senior career, Fintan Gunne. Gibson-Park is a fan.
“He’s been awesome, gone from strength to strength over the last few years, and was awesome there again on the weekend. So yeah, definitely pretty proud of him.
“We’ve got a pretty tight-knit little crew that gets together every Wednesday and does our kicking and stuff. It’s cool, cool to see him performing so well.”
Gunne couldn’t have a better role model.
