Andrew Porter: ‘I love being in here with my friends, playing for a club I grew up watching when I was a kid’

Andrew Porter appreciates how fortunate he is. Not only to be paid for doing something he loves, playing his favourite sport as a job, and to have the inverted lifestyle that comes with the territory, especially in team sports, of mixing his social life and work life on an almost daily basis.

It’s not a real job, and he knows it.

“I suppose it’s not like any workplace you’ll ever be in. My wife always tells me, ‘You’re living in a dream world, it’s not the real world’. And then I try to give her advice about her job and she doesn’t listen. It doesn’t correlate at all.

“I’d say my favourite thing is you’re coming in and working with your mates. You’re there with your friends who you could have known them for years or only met them the first day you come in here and they’re your closest pals. You’re like another family here, people you see every day, you gel and you get on with so well. That’s really special. That’s part of why I enjoy it so much.

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“No matter what environment I’m in, whether I’m in the Ireland set-up or if I’m in Leinster I’m so lucky that I’m able to come in and do a job that I really enjoy and that I feel like I can actually do well at. I think that’s huge in terms of anything, just enjoyment of something. You’re able to be more passionate then and give yourself to it, give all of you to it, and to the lads you play for as well. That’s the most enjoyable part.

“I know Earlsy has said before that he’s a father first, a husband second and a rugby player third, and it is about having your priorities straight as a professional rugby player.

[ Andrew Porter - ‘I think I probably took it harder than a lot of people’ ]

“But I love being in here with my friends, playing for a club I grew up watching when I was a kid, playing for my country and then spending time with my family outside of here.

“I wouldn’t really have it any other way. I’m incredibly lucky and privileged to be in this position, of having a job that I love doing. Every day I enjoy getting up early and the sacrifices I make, and my family make as well, I’m sure. I’m very grateful for this job.”

Viewers of the soon-to-be-released Netflix series of documentaries on each of the half-dozen squads competing in the Six Nations will be given a bigger insight into Porter’s life as a rugby player. But having granted them access, he’s not sure he’ll be one of the viewers himself and even turned down the opportunity to watch an advance screening.

“There was two full days that they were with me at home and I didn’t know what to do. I don’t really know what to do with myself on a normal day and then I have a camera crew following me and I’m like, ‘Okay, how do I keep them occupied?’

“So I brought them to the gym for four hours and I brought them to walk the dog. Jesus, you’re in for some viewing, if this is good TV, I don’t know what is.”

The closer the bond off-field, the more rewarding are the wins, albeit this also makes the defeats hurt more. The only losses Porter experienced between last season and this one were in the Champions Cup final against La Rochelle in May, the World Cup quarter-final and on New Year’s Day against Ulster.

Yet Porter, noting the 2018 highs in particular, goes so far as to say: “Yeah, it’s been a tough few years now. It’s tough, coming so far in a season and coming up short in the end.

Ideally you’d like to be winning every game but sometimes you need that kick up the arse every now and again, like we had against Ulster two weeks ago

“And they stick with you. I think they have to, for you to excel and to be a kick up the hole for you, because you don’t want to have those feelings. It’s one of the worst feelings ever, doing so well in the season and then when it matters it gets taken away from you and you’re not coming back with that silverware.”

In that sense, Porter believes the loss to Ulster might be a blessing in disguise, especially in advance of hosting Stade Francais at the Aviva Stadium this Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).

“It’s good for us to have a loss at this stage of the season rather than further down the line. Ideally you’d like to be winning every game but sometimes you need that kick up the arse every now and again, like we had against Ulster two weeks ago.

“It is great to be challenged at this time of the year and we have two huge games coming up. We have this week and then we have Leicester away.”

“The Aviva is always a very special place to play in. It’s your national stadium and no matter what jersey you’re pulling on it’s a special atmosphere. We have to bring the energy but then it’s the supporters on top of that which creates that special atmosphere.”

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