Pool Six/Leinster v Leicester: John O'Sullivantalks to Leinster backrow Shane Jennings as he prepares to face his former Leicester team-mates at the RDS today
It may be apocryphal to suggest the two-year stint at the Leicester Tigers transformed Shane Jennings from a callow professional rugby player to an outstanding openside flanker with the attributes to flourish in the Test arena.
After all he was 23 years of age when he swapped Dublin for Leicester, boasting a pedigree that included playing for Leinster and Ireland at every underage representative level open to him, his potential obvious. He needed a regular outlet for his talent and the English club were happy to oblige based on the recommendation of one of their most celebrated icons, Neil Back.
The England and Lions flanker rated the young Irishman and made his feelings known to Pat Howard, who in his capacity as coach at Welford Road would oversee Jennings's development. It was a relationship that flourished, based on mutual respect, and would culminate with both leaving Leicester at the end of last season.
Howard returned to the Southern Hemisphere and a position with the Australian Rugby Union while Jennings re-embraced his Leinster roots. In gauging his protege's impact at the East Midlands club, Howard's observations at the time were interesting: "It's a real pity he's going back. He's been fantastic. We'd (Leicester) welcome him back with open arms because his work ethic has been outstanding. He came in with the right ethos, he's worked hard and made a great impression as a consequence and he's been picked more often than not. I hope he gets everything out of playing in Leinster that he needs to."
Howard wasn't alone in his view, the Lions, England and Tigers secondrow Ben Kay describing the young Irishman as "the best backrow forward I have ever played with". When you consider Kay has shared a dressingroom with Back, Josh Kronfeld, Lewis Moody and Martin Corry, it's a decent accolade.
Not that Jennings was picking up too many bouquets when he arrived at Welford Road. The only reputation that counts at the club is that earned on the training paddock and during matches. Jennings smiled: "I was a little intimidated when I went over, apprehensive about what to expect and what was expected of me. I quickly realised you could get left behind very easily if don't come up to their standard, playing Monday night football (Development League) in somewhere like Nottingham.
"Without wishing to sound cliched it is a case of sink or swim. The facilities are, I'd imagine, among the best in Europe for a club; training, playing, the way they look after you, the whole set-up is just so professional and well run."
Former player Richard Cockerill, who donned a tracksuit, armed himself with a whistle and presided over the transition from Howard to new coach Marcelo Loffreda, quickly apprised Jennings of his standing at the club. The Dubliner recalls "He said, 'I didn't sign you, Paddy Howard did, so I want to see what you're like'. When a coach says that, you quickly realise a certain standard is expected.
"You have to work hard to get his respect and hopefully that happened. It's the senior players rather than the coaches that drive the focus and work ethic at the club. When I went over originally, Graham Rowntree and Austin Healey were senior professionals, icons at Leicester and they just demand that standard. It filters down to players like Louis and Brett Deacon, Martin Corry, Ben Kay, Lewis Moody and Geordan Murphy. They are responsible for that ethos now."
So how has his time at Leicester changed him as a person and a player?
"My friends and family would probably answer that better. I did cop on and grow up. I was 23 and had never lived away from home. My mother took care of me as did my brothers and father. I pretty much had everything done for me. It was great to get out into the normality of the world and fend for myself a bit.
"It's a different situation in England, where it is not all Dublin schoolboys that have come through that grade of rugby. There are fellas from all walks of life playing rugby at Leicester, different cultures. You come to realise that where you come from isn't necessarily the best place or the worst place. I picked up their culture and changed my views on a couple of things: probably reinstated a couple as well. I was treated so well. I wasn't from the area, wasn't from the country, yet they took to me and I was grateful for that.
"Suddenly I was less cocooned, having to pay my own bills, the mortgage and cooking for myself. I did need to cop on. I was in a complete comfort zone in Dublin. I'd played for Leinster 19s and 21s and was in the senior squad. I'm not saying things were easy but I had become accustomed to the process. I needed something different to give me a kick up the arse, show me that there are different ways of doing things.
"I don't know how to quantify any changes as a player. I do have a greater understanding of the lineout and the forward game in general. Leicester pay a lot of attention to the scrum and lineout."
On a lighter note one Jennings trait quickly alighted on by team-mates was his propensity for neatness. It's not many rugby players who would be accused of being drunk and orderly on a night out. Geordan Murphy explained: "When we go out drinking he'll even arrange the empty bottles on the table in a straight line. He doesn't even know he's doing it. I like to mess them up when he's not looking and see how long it takes for him to notice."
During his time at Welford Road Jennings was voted Leicester's player of the year and the following year was runner-up to his then team-mate Martin Castrogiovanni for Premiership player of the season. Those statistics merely reinforce the levels of excellence he attained at the club.
Today at the RDS Jennings will once again wear the blue of Leinster against the Tigers, neatly book-ending recent seasons. His last Heineken European Cup game for the Irish province was when coming on after 57 minutes of a quarter-final against Leicester at Lansdowne Road in April, 2005.
The Tigers won easily, something Jennings will be keen to reverse today.
He won his first senior Irish cap during the summer tour but had the misfortune to pick up a thumb injury that necessitated an operation and ruled him out of contention for a World Cup place. He doesn't quite see it that way, pointing out it wasn't the injury that scuppered his hopes but rather the fact he didn't take the opportunity presented.
His decision to return to Leinster, based on a number of factors on and off the pitch, wasn't taken lightly. He's enjoying the new coaching axis of Michael Cheika, David Knox and Mike Brewer. "The squad has changed dramatically from the time I was here. It's strong and competitive and I am in one of the positions which is arguably the most competitive, the backrow.
"The coaching is very different. Michael, David, Mike have clear ideas of how they want to play the game and it's good. It's a matter of me getting used to that and it takes time. Obviously taken in their purest form, the Leinster and Leicester styles are different. We're aware (Leinster) that we have yet to hit the heights this season and a bit of that is to do with guys who have been away and others who have come into the squad, like myself.
"It's just a matter of buying into the way that Cheika wants us to play. If one or two people hold back it's not going to work. There is a realisation that we can perform a lot better and that we are a work in progress."
He confirms that there were plenty of text messages bouncing backwards and forwards across the Irish Sea, albeit the deluge has slowed to a trickle this week.
Friendships will be put aside for 80-plus minutes today - a few of his former Leicester team-mates are staying over in Dublin tonight - no quarter asked, given or expected.
There's no doubt that in his two years at Welford Road, Jennings matured from a promising young player into one ready and capable of shining in the Test arena, his recent pedigree - a combination of Leicester Tiger and Leinster Lion - suggesting he may now view his rugby career with the eye of that rare zoological phenomenon the liger.
The numbers game
And all the better for it.
Position: Back row
Club: St Mary's College
Province: Leinster
School: St Mary's College
Date of birth: July 8th, 1981
Height: 1.83m (6ft)
Weight: 104kg (16st 5lb)
Official Leinster Caps: 49*
Points scored: 30 (6 tries)
Senior debut: against Swansea (a), September 2001
Magners/Celtic League caps: 39*
European Cup caps: 10* (4 tries)
European Cup debut: v Biarritz Olympique at Lansdowne Road, December, 2003.
Ireland caps: 1 (2007- )
Ireland points: 0
Ireland A caps: 6 (3 as captain)
Ireland Under-21 caps: 9
Leinster Under-21 caps: 2 (both as captain)
Ireland Under-19 caps: 4 Ireland Schools Caps: 4
Leinster Schools caps: 7 (3 as captain)
Leicester Tigers appearances: 60 (12 tries)
* 43 caps won in previous spell (33 in Celtic League, 10 in European Cup)
