KEENAN: LEAVING LEINSTER WAS TOUGH BUT OLYMPIC DREAM 'TOO HARD TO TURN DOWN'

AS LEINSTER’S SEASON came to a disappointing end in South Africa last month, Hugo Keenan was back in Dublin watching on from a club-organised barbeque in Old Belvedere with other members of the province’s squad who didn’t make the trip to Pretoria. 

Some were injured, some didn’t make the cut in the travelling squad, but Keenan wasn’t part of the action due to his own personal decision. The fullback removed himself from Leinster’s URC run-in – and Ireland’s summer tour to South Africa – to rejoin the Ireland Sevens programme with a view to winning a medal at the Paris Olympics. It was, in Keenan’s words, too good an opportunity to turn down, but the weight of his decision ensured it wasn’t an easy one.

That feeling was never more prominent than while watching Leinster’s season end at the hands of the Bulls.

“It was really tough,” says Keenan. “I didn’t enjoy the few weeks from that point of view.

“You always hope that it’s going to go differently. I fully backed the side to go down there and to win, and I think everybody did.

“It was just one of those games that Bulls probably played the best possible game that they could. They got a few bounces of the ball, kicked incredibly well. They had the perfect game plan to beat us on the day. It was just one of those things, [but] it didn’t make it any easier now.”

Leinster could surely have done with Keenan’s quality in Pretoria, but the 28-year-old doesn’t let any sense of regret colour his explanation around the move back to Sevens.

The first talks around a potential switch happened earlier this year, but Keenan didn’t make a decision until the weeks leading into the Champions Cup final. He says both Leinster boss Leo Cullen and Ireland head coach Andy Farrell were understanding and there was no hesitation from either team in releasing him to the Sevens programme.

“Whether it was Leo, or Andrew Goodman, or Faz, I had open conversations with them at various points throughout the year,” Keenan says.

“Everyone was hugely supportive. I talked to coaches in Sevens, Toppers [James Topping] and a few of the key players in the Sevens setup. Terry [Kennedy], Bryan Mollen, lads I would be really close with.

“Ultimately it was too hard to turn down because it was too good of an opportunity and experience for me.

“There are challenges, it is tough, making the transition over to the Sevens. It was tough not being involved in Leinster closing out of the season with them. It definitely wasn’t how I hoped the season would go for me or Leinster. It wasn’t the plan losing the Champions Cup final and, after that, was again hugely disappointing [in the URC].

“It’s definitely been challenging in that regard and now it’s tough not being down in South Africa because you’d love to test yourself against the best team in the world, the World Cup champs, in their backyard.

But that’s the sacrifice and decision I had to make if I wanted to put my hand up for selection for the Olympics. Hopefully in a month’s time now the decision will have paid off for me.”

Ireland Sevens head coach James Topping has admitted to having some reservations about brining Keenan back into the fold, given the risk of upsetting some of the group who sealed Olympic qualification last summer. Yet the players have spoken of being impressed by Keenan’s eagerness and work ethic, with the Dubliner quickly joining the squad on the back of Leinster’s Champions Cup final loss to Toulouse.

It also helps that he has a Sevens background, having been part of the Ireland Sevens squad from 2017 until 2019. He’s quickly got a handle on the format again but admits to some learning curves.

“The game had definitely changed. I was leaving a team, and although we did come third say in London, we came ninth in the Rugby World Cup in San Francisco.

“We were only starting to compete, we just got on the World Series. Now you see the side looking for medals, looking for a podium finish in each of the tournaments and series they play. That is the standard they’re holding themselves at.

“It has definitely been a step up from when I stopped. That was also an exciting challenge for me. I’ve spoken to you [previously] about what Sevens had done for me in the past in developing me as a player, how good it was for my 15s career. I’m hoping that this will be a little jumpstart in the middle of my career to kick me on and improve different areas, give me a little boost in my 15s career after.

“That was another reason for doing it. To improve as a player, to challenge myself both on the pitch but also the mental side of it. The whole experience of going to the Olympics, the pressure around that, I definitely think I can transfer that into the 15s side when I return.”

While his return to Sevens arrived as a surprise earlier this year, in his own head the Olympic dream had been stirring for some time.

“The idea was, I suppose, always there. Four or five years ago my last tournament with the Sevens was a qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics in Toulouse and I had to step away from that goal at the time.

“I always sort of had it in the back of my mind that I’d love to do it [for Paris] but it all was going to depend on how the season panned out, it was always going to be a late decision and a decision based on whether my body was right because I had a few injuries hanging around after the Six Nations. It all happened pretty quickly in the few weeks leading into my transition.”

With the decision now made, Keenan is part of an Ireland squad who are aiming for gold in Paris, despite being handed a difficult draw – competing in Pool A alongside top seeds New Zealand, repechage winners South Africa and Japan.

“When I was growing up I never would have thought I’d be at an Olympics,” Keenan continues.

“The squad has been competing all year. They’ve come on leaps and bounds from when I left and that’s the beauty of a Sevens tournament, anybody can win it.

“But they’ve proven they’re one of the most consistent sides in the series now and that’s definitely going to be our aim going over there, and it was definitely one of the appealing factors to do it because you’re not just there for the experience. You’re there to compete, you’re there to try to get Ireland a medal at the Olympics, which is certainly one of the main reasons why I did it.”

2024-07-04T07:10:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd