As Munster head coach Clayton McMillan has noted, the world can move in mysterious ways indeed. Ahead of JJ Hanrahan’s third coming with his native province, this is illustrated both by the player’s nomadic career and Munster’s revolving door at number 10 in latter years.
When Hanrahan was in the last season of his second spell with Munster, 2020-21, he was competing with Joey Carbery and Ben Healy for the outhalf role. Jack Crowley, whom Hanrahan immediately identified as “an incredible talent”, was breaking into the team in his last academy season, while Tony Butler was also coming through the system.
Four years on, only Crowley remains as Hanrahan renews acquaintances with many friends and teammates, while also building new relationships with many others.
Ireland suffer at the hands of a vengeful New Zealand
Following on from his second spell at Munster, and a season in Clermont and another in the Dragons, Hanrahan proved a shrewd signing by Connacht two years ago. The ACL injury that sidelined him for most of last season was a real blow to the western province.
READ MORE
With Crowley likely to be on international duty and Billy Burns having come and gone, the prodigal son looks a smart acquisition for Munster. That viewpoint is strengthened with the departures of Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray.
The lure of his home province was hard to resist. Being back is “unbelievably refreshing”; his spells away have made him appreciate Munster and their set-up.
“I loved my time at Connacht and actually, there’s nothing bad I could say about Connacht," he said. “I think Galway definitely has a place in my heart forever more. Myself and my wife (Fabienne) loved it up there as well, but I was still based in Limerick. I was doing a lot of commuting.
“I said something recently: ‘If someone asked you to put on an Irish jersey, what would you say?’. It’s the same feeling for me wearing the red jersey. Some people think I’m mad, but I love the place. I love Munster. Even when I was playing against them, it was weird – I was still a fan. You still want to beat them when I was away, but there’s nothing better for me than playing for Munster.”
Having a pre-season camp in his alma mater of Rockwell College and another next week in his home town of Castleisland seems almost designed for him.
“It was amazing getting back there, where I suppose rugby really kicked off for me. I was only a young fella coming from Kerry and training with my local club, Castleisland, to go on to training five days a week of rugby. That was amazing to get back there and stay in the dorms and stuff. Not all the lads enjoyed it as much as I did, maybe, but it was good to get back.”
A last dance in Munster may be opportune too, teaming up again with kindred spirit Mike Prendergast while also embracing McMillan’s new ways.
“There are certain coaches you meet along the line that they walk into a room and you just know they’re in the room. He has a presence and an aura about him.
“He definitely hasn’t come in trying to change everything. He’s let coaches, who are doing a really good job, coach as well. But there are certain tweaks that he wants and he’s very clear about that and been very direct about that.”
Hanrahan’s passion for the game, and learning, remains undimmed. There is no disguising his joy at being “home”. Not all his career choices were entirely of his own making, but this one came easily.
Hanrahan says he is “definitely very different as a person, for sure” compared to his second coming in 2015 after a two-year stint in Northampton.
“I think I’ve learned loads about myself. You look back and you’re like: ‘Oh, if I did this or I did that’. You can’t. You just learn loads about yourself.
“You go away, like myself and my missus and the dog (a red setter named Rua), and now a baby (Màelle) – that becomes your unit. You realise that you don’t have the comforts of home when you go away. It is just you and how you react to things and how you deal with pressures in different places and learn different languages, and try and speak to French internationals. Things like that. You pick up and you develop as you go along. I think coming back, you try and bring all those experiences with you.”
Regrets, he may have a few, but he’s not inclined to dwell on them.
“I’ve actually never gone through it too much with a fine toothcomb. Maybe once or twice in my career I could have had a little bit more patience, potentially. But then in saying that, I wouldn’t have met the people I’ve met. I wouldn’t have found out about the things I found out about myself, potentially, if I had that patience.
“So, it’s hard to know. It really is hard to know. All I know is I’m here where I am now and I have all the knowledge I’ve learned through good and bad. And hopefully I can just keep going forward. There’s no point really thinking too much about it.”
Hanrahan does admit he plays with less of a chip on his shoulder these days.
“I probably wanted things and you can want it too much, do you know what I mean? You become a little bit too desperate for things. It’s that old analogy – you hold a piece of jelly in your hand, squeeze too much, it’s going to come out.
“For me, I love playing rugby and I love playing rugby for Munster. If I can put and express that on the field through the way I want to play the game, and the framework, that would be the best thing for JJ Hanrahan, the best for Munster and hopefully it can snowball from there. That’s what I want.”
Outhalves often play their best rugby in their 30s. Hanrahan has always been capable of brilliant moments. Watching him and Finn Russell go toe-to-toe in the 21-21 Thomond thriller between Munster and Racing in November 2019 was one of the highlights of that season. There are less of the slashing breaks nowadays, but he’s still an inventive playmaker and superb goalkicker, and perhaps a better game manager. In any case, he seems more at ease in his own skin.
A rare talent, Hanrahan’s journey may not have panned out quite as envisaged when tearing it up in his days on the Irish Under-20s and being nominated for World Junior Player of the Year. But it’s been a fine and varied career so far. And it’s far from over.
