It tells us much about James Culhane’s potential that despite being sidelined by various ailments and injuries, restricting him to just eight Leinster appearances during two seasons in their academy, he was upgraded to a senior contract in advance of this season.
Now, after his second Emerging Ireland tour finished with him captaining the side to their concluding 33-24 win over the Cheetahs, Culhane could make his first start of the season against Connacht at the Dexcom Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 7.35pm).
If so, it will be his first start for Leinster since the corresponding game in Galway which cruelly ended his season last December.
“I tore my hammy and fractured my shoulder in the same game. So, there is a bit of trauma there. I think my hamstring is still somewhere around the 22-metre line of that pitch,” he says, showing a nice line in gallows humour.
The injuries happened within two minutes of each other.
“I did my shoulder first and was supposed to come off but I think Max Deegan had gone off for a ‘bloods’ so they were like ‘two minutes and then you can come off’.
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“Then we scored a try and I caught the kick-off. Right before I was to come off two lads jumped on my shoulder and I just went to step off my left leg and I felt it pop. I’ve never had an injury like that before, so I knew there was something seriously wrong. Then the scan said it all.”
Having never suffered a hamstring injury before, he’d tore one off the bone. Now completing his degree in electrical engineering at UCD, his life is largely about time management, although his studies were a blessing during rehab.
“I split my course up a little bit, but on average it is a 40-hour studying week, so it is tough to fit that in with training every week. But when I got injured, I had something to focus on and that was a big benefit.
“I wasn’t just feeling sorry for myself the whole time. I’ve done well so far and I don’t think my parents [Paul and Margaret] would ever let me quit the college side of things, so I am forced to do it,” he says, smiling.
Reared in Enniskerry, education has always been a priority for Culhane and his sisters Rosie and Lily, even though his dad was also a number eight who captained St Munchin’s, the Ireland Under-21s and Irish Universities (against a New Zealand team featuring Seán Fitzpatrick) before injury cut short his career.
Like father, like son, they are both Arsenal fans, and Culhane was also a handy footballer with Wayside Celtic and Gaelic footballer with Kilmacud Crokes. He captained Blackrock College to the Leinster Schools Junior Cup in 2018 and would have captained the senior team in 2020-21 but for Covid.
In Ireland’s Under-20 Grand Slam-winning side of 2022 his record carrying metres (349 from 66 carries) saw him named player of the championship, but he was soon hospitalised for a month with a kidney infection, probably the consequence of overtraining and dehydration.
While that was excessive, it shows how driven Culhane is. Bright and humble, but ambitious too, he describes the Emerging Ireland tour as “another stepping stone” and an opportunity to work with Paul O’Connell.
“He kind of knows everything, to be honest.”
Culhane also gives an interesting take on the “freshness” of Jacques Nienaber and Tyler Bleyendaal.
“When Stu [Lancaster] was in he controlled both attack and defence. He kind of did it all himself, so it’s good to get different eyes on things. Jacques has the new defensive set-up that we’ve never really experienced in Irish rugby before. That’s still something we’re learning, but we’ve made good ground on that.
“Attack-wise, it’s not too dissimilar, Tyler really enjoys just ‘play what’s in front of us’ sort of thing so it’s not always too systematic, especially on transition, whereas in the past we would have just focused on playing our own system, not seeing outside of it. But Tyler really encourages players to take space if they see it.”
Mature beyond his years, Culhane captained Leinster in preseason friendlies this year and last, further demonstrating they know they have a good one here. This is also a big season for him.
Not in an arrogant way, but more stating the obvious, Culhane says: “I think it’s time now to push into this Leinster team and it’s pretty obvious once you’re in a Leinster team that you’ll find yourself in an Irish squad. So, that’s the goal. Especially in my first year of senior, I’m trying to make some moves.”
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