HOME AND AWAY KEVIN SHEAHAN: Gavin Cummiskeylooks at how one player who lost his place in the Irish system is considering a return to his US roots
STILL ONLY 21, Kevin Sheahan was cut loose by the Leinster Academy last season. Reaching a crossroads so early in one's sporting life usually leads to acceptance followed by a prompt return to the real world.
He had at least maintained his studies in Business and Law at UCD throughout a fledgling career, but his birthplace has provided another, extremely viable path to continue playing professional rugby.
The former St Michael's College SCT captain from 2005 (they lost in the quarter-final to Blackrock and Luke Fitzgerald after putting up a decent fight) differs from your normal aspiring full-time professional in Irish rugby. True, he has returned to the club game with St Mary's and intends to make an impact as their number eight in the coming weeks but back in August he popped up in Chicago for a high-stakes game.
Munster travelled to Toyota Park for the second instalment of a now annual pre-season fixture against the US Eagles. Sheahan was named on the openside flank. For the home team. Another Irishman, UCD tighthead prop Ben Barclay was also in the mix as was former Galwegians scrumhalf Robbie Shaw. There is a pattern developing here.
The American outlet comes due to Sheahan's father Kieran (a Dr Crokes man, educated at Rockwell College), now a pathologist in St Vincent's, practising in Boston for eight years along with his mother, Janet, who was a physiotherapist. Sheahan was born and raised on the east coat for five years before returning to Dublin.
In the back of his mind he figured he would one day play Stateside, maybe pick up a rugby scholarship but it was always a back-burn option. How exactly did he get from Dublin to Chicago to play 80 minutes against Clermont Auvergne and be on the wrong end of a 46-22 defeat to the European champions?
"During the summer I had a chance meeting with the agent Carl Hogan. Basically, I was trying to find out the deal with playing rugby in America. I emailed him 20 questions or so on whether I could get a scholarship.
"One thing led to another and Nigel Melville (the former Gloucester head honcho is now CEO of USA rugby) offered me the chance to come over on a trial - I have not declared yet - for a three-week camp that led into the Munster and Clermont games.
"It all came about real suddenly. I had just come off a four-week holiday with the lads so I wasn't in the best nick but I had been training up to that so I was alright once I got into it."
Small for number eight, Scott Johnson (yes, the former Welsh and Wallaby attack coach is also part of the US set-up as head coach) hand his the number seven role.
"The heat was ridiculous. We had a few pros missing that day due to commitments to European clubs pre-season. Not that it mattered. Scott Johnson is trying to identify as many players as he can. He is largely starting with a clean slate and working with younger players who will be around not just in 2011 but 2015. He is building for the next two World Cups.
"A lot of the older players were removed after the last World Cup but it is competitive enough. There are some very good players in the set-up. The US leagues might not be the best organised but there are plenty of good athletes."
Sheahan's high-water mark to date came as a member of Ireland's 2007 Grand Slam winning under-20s side but that doesn't prohibit him for declaring for the United States. As Liefi Mafi and Paul Warwick learned to their cost, playing international Sevens or A level are the killer caps.
No longer part of the Irish system, Sheahan is keen to continue life as professional after catching the bug in the underage and academy squads.
"I didn't think I would ever get this far but, especially, after being involved in the Irish (under-20s) set-up did I realised I had the potential to go further," he says humbly.
"The first real taste of a professional rugby life came with the Grand Slam at 20s. It is certainly something I intend to pursue for a few years after college. I'm all for travelling so I don't mind that aspect of it."
Of course, life is never straightforward. The summer games against Munster and Clermont Auvergne do not count as internationals so he has yet to pledge full allegiance to the flag.
He remains a realist, however, and while they have sounded him out for the 44-man US training camp in November, including games against the amateur New Zealand Heartland XV and Uruguay with a reduced Test squad travelling on to Japan, he is awaiting final confirmation.
If selected, he will in all likelihood be capped against Uruguay and that will be that.
"After that, I'm not 100 per cent sure. I fully intend to complete my finals in UCD while the Munster and Clermont are annual matches so they remain an option next year."
What he is certain about is the pursuit of a professional club career, making this season's AIL performances in the St Mary's backrow fairly crucial.
"Yeah, ideally I would like to get some videos up for St Mary's and try and get a contract somewhere in England or France. A double contract, with the US and a club, would be the ideal scenario. We shall have to see."
Sheahan is breaking new ground that others are sure to follow. With professional rugby continually evolving and maturing from its infancy stages, his continued development is worth following.
It is not a stretch to call him a rugby pioneer.
