Ever since he was no age, as he puts it, Rory Best has been consumed by rugby. Some of his earliest childhood recollections are of being driven through “every hole and a hedge, as it was then” to get from Banbridge to Dublin in the back of his dad’s car. The tail end of the anthem, when the old Lansdowne Road roar swelled up to a crescendo. The steaks in Monasterboice on the journey home. The memories will always be vivid.
He’s gone from being a childhood fan, through mini rugby at Banbridge from the age of four, to a 120-times capped Irish international for the last 16 years and then the Irish captain for the last four.
“It’s really hard to put into words how special it is,” he admits, having spent much of the previous half-hour reliving his journey.
“I think that’s sometimes when…” he then says, out of the blue, as he tries to find the right words. “You don’t mind when people question your performance or your ability or this, that and the other, but when people question how much it means to you to play for Ireland, it really, really pisses me off. But on social media everyone’s got a voice, so you just have to get on with it.”
His mind wanders off, starting with his debut against the All Blacks in 2005 when coming on alongside his brother Simon. He still has that jersey and from the last game international at the old Lansdowne Road in November 2006 against the Pacific Islands, his Ulster jersey from the last game played there against Leinster, as well as the games at Croke Park and the many milestone wins.
Tough acts
“Only for O’Connell stealing the ball off me at the back of a maul I’d have scored the last ever international try at Lansdowne Road as well,” he recalls, laughing. But in succeeding O’Connell, and before him Brian O’Driscoll, Best had some tough acts to follow.
“Do you know what, it was really difficult at the start, especially coming after Paulie. He’s such a big figure, and was such a great servant and such a worldwide name. You have to find your way, and sometimes that takes a little bit of time, to not just try and replicate him; to take some of the good stuff but to be yourself.”
“But now, to be working with such good coaches, a great leadership group and ultimately to have that little bit of responsibility, I’ve really enjoyed it.”
So who is our captain?
Born in Craigavon, and reared on the family farm in Poyntzpass in Armagh, his parents, Pat and John, raised four children, with Best third of four behind Simon and Mark, and a younger sister, by seven years, Rebecca.
“There’s four years between the three boys and we literally hammered lumps out of each other. It’s ironic, I remember car journeys to Lansdowne Road or family holidays, and we’d be fighting in the back. Dad would say ‘right, I’m warning you, I’m going to turn round, we’re going to go home.’ And now I’m the one saying the same thing,” says Best, who is father to Ben, Richie and Penny.
Most school days coming home, he recalls being dragged to the table to do his homework, before scampering out to the farm or the front lawn to kick a ball. Now he watches Ben doing the same.
Family holidays were the first two weeks in Donegal. Best’s paternal grandfather Don bought a holiday home in the early 80s in the seaside village of Portnoo, near Inishkeel Island. Best, Jodie and the kids holiday there, or seek the Portuguese sun.
His dad’s uncle, Bill Buller, competed in the Munich Games at three-day Eventing, and following the death of his father, from the age of 10 he and his mother ran the family farm. Buller held a school high jump record at Royal School Dungannon which lasted 30 years, was a keen boxer and boxing coach, and captained Banbridge.
Haka
Along with his dad, both of Best’s uncles, Gary and Craig, also played for Banbridge. “But Craig got his nose broken early on and he decided to be a spectator a bit earlier than the other two.”
Best began playing mini rugby, from the age of four. “I think it’s actually illegal now. I played in the morning, picked up a burger in the club house, then kicked a ball around before watching dad play in the afternoon.”
In November 1989, when he was seven, he was taken to see the All Blacks beat Ulster 21-3 at Ravenhill. A night-time game, the haka and the black jerseys.
When Best went to Poyntzpass Primary School they didn’t have rugby. One September day Simon came home and informed his dad that they were practising for a big game against nearby Scarva the following July. Stunned to hear that was their only game, he resolved to start a team and be its coach.
In Best’s last year there they qualified for the Northern Ireland primary schools tournament, which thus led to him playing at Ravenhill for the first time. Aged 10, he was captain too. After three years at Tandragee Junior High School, he did his GCSEs and A levels at Portadown College, going straight into the Medallion Shield cup team. They lost a first-round replay away to Ballymena Academy after a drawn match at home, held in midweek.
“It was the first time I played in front of a big crowd and I went ‘this is actually class’ but we were absolutely hockeyed up there in the replay.”
Ian Humphreys was the Ballymena outhalf, with brother David in the crowd.
“Ian was, unfortunately, on fire that day. They were about 40 points up and he made a clean break and held the ball behind him with one hand as our boys chased him. I remember thinking ‘if I get a hold of him…’ Little did I know that I’d end up living with him as well as playing with him.”
Before his penultimate year at Portadown he was switched back to hooker. “It’s turned out all right, so it has,” he says, chuckling. Although they had a good team, they lost in the first round of the Senior Cup “on an horrific day at BRA” and in his final year Portadown lost 8-6 to Royal School Armagh. “I remember we missed about four kicks at goal. All we needed was one of them.”
As he was dating Jodie, who was at Stranmillis University College, Best wanted to attend Queen’s, but his dad was adamant that he needed to fend for himself, meaning Dublin or Newcastle.
Overweight
Best applied but didn’t make the IRFU national academy, so went to Newcastle University for two years to study agriculture. They were the drift years. In his second year in Newcastle with the Falcons, Best was hardly getting any game time.
“I said ‘right, I need to get myself sorted.’ I was definitely drinking too much. I was not eating right, I was overweight and unfit.”
The Ulster academy had started up under Allen Clarke, the former Ulster and Irish hooker, who invited Best home. He finished his degree in Queen’s and joined Belfast Harlequins.
Clarke remains one of the most profound influences. “He coached me with Ulster too, and instilled a lot of discipline. I’m sure at times he probably thought I was a hopeless case.”
Andrew Symington, his coach at Tandragee and Portadown, switched him to hooker and made him captain, as did Andrew Bester, at Belfast Harlequins, when picking him ahead of Richie Weir.
All along there’s been his mum and dad, who also started up the under-14s at Banbridge.
Ultimately, he’s a son of Banbridge, where he will always return.
“When Dad was there they used to change in the Downshire Arms Hotel and walk through a couple of cow fields to play. Now they have their own club house and grounds.”
After reaching the All-Ireland League in 1998, they’ve since risen to the second tier, Division 1B.
“A large portion of their team are home grown and have come through their youths system. That’s been their big focus, to make sure they are a sustainable team.”
Every time he goes back, Best meets former underage team-mates who are still playing. “You basically get slagged for four or five hours, and it brings you back down to earth again.”
Ben now plays on the same team as Simon’s eldest boy, Jack, and Best missed Richie’s first game last Saturday, but he’ll see them play plenty soon enough.
Now it’s come full circle, his parents having watched him play all over the world.
An unfortunate exception was when Best captained Ireland to their first ever win on home soil against the All Blacks in November last year, as it clashed with his sister’s graduation, one of only five Irish games they’ve missed.
This will also be his and the Bests’ fourth World Cup. From 2007 in France, when Simon’s career was abruptly ended by an irregular heart condition, through 2011 in New Zealand and then four years ago, it’s been some journey.
Just one almighty last chapter to go.
– Rory Best was speaking to The Irish Times in his capacity as an ambassador for Specsavers.
