INTERVIEW - KEVIN McLAUGHLIN:THERE IS a suggestion music can soothe the soul and if that is so, then Kevin McLaughlin found the perfect antidote to the frustration of last weekend's defeat to London Irish at the RDS in Dublin.
The Leinster flanker spent Monday night singing bass with the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir in the National Concert Hall, recording a piece for Lyric FM.
His choral pedigree – he was an ever present in the RTÉ Philharmonic’s five concert programme last year – dates to his days at Gonzaga College and it is a recreational pursuit he’s upheld despite his professional commitment to rugby. There’s no doubt it’s provided a welcome distraction when his sporting career was pockmarked by frequent injury.
The 25-year-old was an exceptional underage representative player but from the moment the door swung open to the Leinster Academy his career has been blighted by surgery and rehabilitation, virtually on an annual basis.
He explained: “(In my) first year in the academy I tore my cruciate ligament and was out for six months. Then the next year I had to get a shoulder reconstruction; (I) played half a season that year. The year after my right shoulder started acting up, the A/C joint, so that required more surgery.”
Last season Rocky Elsom cast a long shadow from which McLaughlin failed to emerge. It’s hardly an accusation of slacking to manage only the occasional cameo based on the Australian’s stellar performances. The talented young Irishman knew he had to make an objective decision on his future.
It wasn’t easy because despite his playing aptitude and desire, his body wouldn’t accommodate that ambition. “I had a meeting with (Michael) Cheika at the end of last year. He pretty much sat me down and said, ‘we think you are good enough but we can’t keep on going like this. Do you think you can go a season without getting injured and stay fit or even get a run of games without getting injured’.
“I said to him I believe I could if I worked hard in the off-season and got things right. He said: ‘right, okay, off you go’. I worked really hard, didn’t take any holidays. I spent four weeks doing shoulder rehab, got my shoulders and knees right and am feeling good.
“I do feel like I have a new lease of life; definitely. Last season I felt my rugby was to-ing and fro-ing. I always wanted to get a chance but I suppose I was at a bit of a crossroads at the end of last season. Are my shoulders up to this level? Am I up to this level? You start to doubt yourself.
“But then I made a decision at the end of last season that I was going to give it one more go and I got a year extension. I’m thankful for that. Since then I have not looked back.”
The peals of laughter shook the room when McLaughlin sheepishly admitted he had investigated a career away from rugby if things hadn’t panned out.
“Believe it or not I was looking in the banking sector. So I’m very thankful now, I must say. I have been doing some work experience in Anglo Irish Bank,” he smiled.
Elsom’s number-six jersey has fitted snugly on McLaughlin’s broad shoulders. He’s taken his opportunities with a series of excellent displays, recognised by his team-mates and also in winning September’s player of the month award. He’s more inclined to look forward rather than back although his thoughts on Leinster’s failure at the breakdown in the London Irish match offer an inkling of what the Irish province has largely focused on in training this week as they prepare to travel to Brive.
“There are a couple of key areas that we feel we need to improve on; one of them being body height at the breakdown. There was possibly a bit of complacency there as we were so happy with the way it went against Munster. If you take your eye off the ball for one second in this tournament, you’re going to lose battles.
“We have done a pretty thorough assessment of it (the breakdown) and we felt they (London Irish) got lower. It’s kind of a mindset at the ruck. You just have to be hungrier to get there earlier. You have to get lower; it’s really simple. We were possibly half a yard off rucks a lot of times, letting (Steffon) Armitage get in. If you let him get in he is impossible to move; you have to get him before he gets in and you have to get underneath him. That let us down a bit.
“We did talk about it at half-time. If you go into a game . . . the ruck is your bread and butter. The ruck should be the priority, especially for a pack. It is hard to adjust once you get into a game and Armitage was getting his rhythm. Say in the first ruck we’d smashed him, smashed his ribs, he probably would not have been as hungry to get in. We almost encouraged him to get in over the ball and it had a really negative effect. Other players started doing it and they got momentum at the breakdown. It just killed our game.”
Next Saturday in the Stade Amedee-Domenech, McLaughlin anticipates an equally ferocious tussle at the breakdown. He’s been doing his homework on the Brive backrow. “(They have) Alix Popham at six and a very important player (Antoine) Claassen, who’s either eight or seven; so we are going to look to target him. He carries a lot of ball, is good at the breakdown. They’re their two main backrow players that we are looking to get into.”
McLaughlin loves every minute, enjoying a reward for his dedication in rehabilitating from a succession of injuries. His stage is now the RDS and arenas of similar ilk, entertaining by deed rather than word.
