ON HIS full European debut last Saturday, James Coughlan was the baby of the pack, though given he’s 29, these things are relative. But whether 21 or 29, it helps when you are surrounded by such a vast array of leaders, and Coughlan admits it allowed him to go about his task without any added responsibility.
“With Ronan, Quinny and Micko, there’s enough decision-makers there without the new fella throwing his spoke in,” he said afterwards with a self- deprecating smile. “So no, to be honest, I just left the lads at it. I didn’t try to get involved because I’ve enough on my own plate.
“There’s plenty of experience there. You’ve a guy outside Ronan with 50 caps for South Africa, Doug is there, so they don’t need the new fella coming in with ideas of what he wants to do. You just put your head down and do as much work as you can, you know.”
An easy-going lad, who earned his stripes the hard way through years of outstanding performances and loyalty with Dolphin, Coughlan’s story can be an inspiration to many players on the AIB League scene. And, lest we forget, that is where all Munster’s dogs of war up front cut their teeth too.
Fully contracted since 2006, he patiently worked his socks off through the Munster As, also making 39 appearances for Munster along the way, including five off the bench in the Heineken Cup. Even so, this was a new level of pressure. “It was a massive opportunity for myself and I just didn’t want to let anybody down and that fear of losing is always with you, especially here.”
As an Ireland World Cup sevens player, Coughlan has a high aerobic threshold, and is also an intelligent professional, not averse to video homework.
Playing in Stephen Myler’s face, his early blockdown on the Northampton outhalf and his follow-up tackle on Chris Ashton to bundle the winger into touch helped give Munster the early territorial platform from which the fifth-minute Paul Warwick try ensued for an 8-0 lead. It also helped him into the game.
“It’s always good to get that initial impact to get rid of any nerves or whatever. But I thought we started really well, there was an intensity there. Everyone wanted to step up and make a hit.
“Everything is a contest and I think that’s how we approached it.
“Every little thing is a contest – all the kicks, retreats, breakdowns, charge-downs, that’s the intensity you have to bring to it, that every little thing you do is a contest. And over the 80 minutes I think we won more than we lost and I think that was the winning and losing of it.”
After starting the previous four games, Coughlan had been confined to a late cameo in the defeat to Leinster, but Tony McGahan had seen enough to decide there was a better balance to the backrow with Wallace reverting to openside and Coughlan starting.
“I got the call on Sunday from Tony and to be honest when he rang I thought I was being dropped completely, so sure it’s nice to be told I was going to be starting every now and then,” he says with a laugh.
“No, I think you have that initial buzz on Sunday afternoon and then you park it because it’s job time then, you sit down with Laurie (Fisher, forwards coach) and Micko (O’Driscoll) and a few of the lads and go through what we’re going to do in terms of planning.
“It’s work time and the intensity is different obviously and the level is different, and it’s up to you then to step up – to put your hand up and say, ‘Yeah, I’m here, and I’m going to stay here as long as I can’. You know, nobody wants to hand the jersey over. We always say we’re only keeping it warm for the next guy, but you want to keep it as warm for as long if as you can, if that makes sense.”
Perfect sense. There’s a part of him that probably wishes he will be playing for Dolphin in their AIB League semi-final rematch with Cork Constitution at Temple Hill on Saturday, and no doubt the club have mixed feelings about their talisman’s progress. Suddenly though, there is now the distinct possibility of a Heineken Cup semi-final and a daunting head-to-head with one of the star performers of the European season in the brilliant Biarritz marauder Imanol Harinorodoquy.
“Certainly, I hope so,” says Coughlan, smiling again. “They’re the days you want to be involved in, they’re what professional rugby is all about. They’re the games you want to play in, there’s no point in saying otherwise. But I think we’ll park this now for a while. We’ve Connacht on Sunday so it’s back into reality.
“And us going up there now, it’s going to be another chance for them to throw their hand in, so this result is great, but we won’t look outside it. We’ve a good few weeks between now and then.”
