The Scrum and the Restless

When Hot Press meets Leinster winger and full-back Dave Kearney, the most noticeable aspect of his appearance – apart from his formidable bulk – is the prominent shiner he’s sporting on one eye.

“We had a game at the weekend, I’m not really sure what happened,” says Kearney, sitting in the Westbury Hotel’s Café Novo, where he is appearing in his capacity as spokesman for HTC phones. “It might have been a knee in the face. It’s not as bad as it looks!”
The Leinster man has certainly been in the wars this year, after infamously being stretchered off following a kick to the head by Munster’s Paul O’Connell (not a person you would want administering such a blow), for which O’Connell – following a lengthy media controversy – eventually escaped censure.
“You’ll always get injuries in sport, especially rugby because of the level of contact,” he shrugs. “There was quite a big media storm about it, but I think the more frustrating aspect was just that I wasn’t able to play. It was concussion, so you need to take a few weeks off before you can do contact again.”
Is that approach essentially precautionary?
“Pretty much,” nods Kearney. “Anyone who gets concussions these days... you have to take three weeks off before you can fully recover. As I say, the most frustrating aspect was that I couldn’t play. It was the latter stages of the season when you’re into semi-finals and finals, so it wasn’t easy.”
The 2013/‘14 campaign has started well for Leinster, with the team atop their Heineken Cup group; Kearney is happy with the amount of game time he’s been getting.
“I’ve been happy with the way I’ve been playing too,” he notes. “The fact that we’ve a new coach in Matt O’Connor, I think it’s important that you play regularly early on to try and impress him. You want to give a good first impression. The more games you get, the more you develop and your confidence grows. It’s about building on performances week by week.”
The big rugby news on the day we meet is that the Welsh clubs have withdrawn from the Heineken Cup following the French and English sides’ determined efforts to start a breakaway tournament, throwing the competition’s future into doubt. Undoubtedly, the Cup in its current guise has done much to grow the game of rugby domestically.
“Definitely,” agrees Kearney. “Going back over the last seven or eight years, Munster were dominating in Europe and Leinster got a few wins as well. Ulster were in the final against us too. It’s done a lot for Irish rugby and encouraged people to get involved in the sport. For our open sessions, when Leinster go to visit places around the province, we might get three or four thousand attending.
“We went to Dundalk, which would have been my club when I was younger, and the crowd was unbelievable. It’s great to see rugby getting bigger in places that are outside the traditional rugby playing counties.”
Kearney was a member of the Leinster squad that claimed the Heineken Cup in 2012, and cites it as the pinnacle of his career to date. It must take a phenomenal level of intensity to win the competition.
“It really does,” he concurrs. “As you can see from the past couple of games we’ve had, it starts from the first minute. There’s no time for lapses in concentration. Last year, when we lost against Clermont Auvergne, that killed us. There’s not much room for error in the Heineken Cup. If you put yourself in the position where you’re chasing the competition from the start, you’re in a really hard place.”
Is psychology a big part of the game nowadays?
“Players will have different approaches,” replies Kearney. “It’s getting a lot bigger. For Leinster and Ireland, the players have worked with Enda McNulty, who’d be doing sports psychology. It’s up to the individual how you approach things like that, but it’s definitely becoming more prominent.”
Finally, the 24-year-old is one of the new breed of Irish players breathing down the necks of the “golden generation”. How does he see next year shaping up?
“The fact that we’ve a new coach in there with Joe Schmidt, it’s a clean slate,” he enthuses. “It’s a really exciting time. We’ve seen over the past few years what Joe has brought to Leinster when he was there. Obviously he’s an unbelievable coach. Everyone will be on their toes and eager to impress from the start.”

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