'Not here to make up the numbers' - Conan keen for his Lions shot
HUGO KEENAN, JAMES Ryan, and Jamison Gibson-Park are down the far end of the sin-kissed pitch in the UCD Bowl, getting through some running as they continue to recover from injuries.
Jack Conan appears to have taken some sort of knock too, but he's in the middle of a bunch of kids, leading passing and sidestepping drills.
The Leinster, Ireland, and Lions number eight has compression bandaging covering his entire right leg but when he strolls over for a chat, he explains that it's nothing to worry about.
'Bangs and bruises… too many pints on the weekend,' jokes Conan.
He and his Leinster team-mates celebrated their URC success heartily last weekend, enjoying a couple of days together before the Lions contingent joined Andy Farrell's squad on Monday, while others headed for Dingle to keep the party rolling.
'Class,' says Conan of the days after the win over the Bulls.
'It was a bit weird in the changing room after, like we didn't know how to win. Lads were a bit awkward or something like that, but it was good craic.
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'We went to the RDS for a bit which was good and then just pottered into town and everyone did their own thing. We had a great few days, it was nice, a few pints on Sunday as well early doors which was good. It was enjoyable celebrations.'
He was home early on the Sunday and on the road at 7am on Monday morning to collect his dog in Bray.
The afterglow of URC success vanished pretty quickly as Conan packed up for the next eight weeks on the road with the Lions. He says that going into camp on Monday was like the first day at school.
Conan lifting the URC trophy at Croke Park. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Conan trained with the Lions for the first time on Tuesday – 'soul-searching stuff, we had to run out the demons!' – but didn't play in last night's defeat to Argentina, although he did the warm-up beforehand as cover.
Conan was among the nine players at yesterday morning's training session in UCD, which involved children from schools in each of the four Irish provinces – Moorefields Primary School in Ballymena, St Columba's National School in Dublin, Clerihan National School in Clonmel, Tipperary, and St Brendan's National School in Galway.
Conan was thrilled that Leinster could finish their season on a high with that URC victory, but the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton will linger. That's reflected when he's asked if Leinster's campaign was a success or failure.
'I think any season where you win something can never be deemed a failure,' he said.
'Obviously, we want to go well in both competitions, and I think if it hadn't been for the performance against Northampton, even if we had lost that game, but we performed really well, I don't think people would have said much about it.
'They're a quality side, but I think it was just the way we didn't show up that day and had a bit of a hangover for a few weeks.
'Maybe we don't get the result over the last two weeks if it wasn't for that game. Maybe it was the bit of a kick that we needed.
'The problem is when you win most of the time, it papers over cracks a little bit, so we had to have a good, hard look at ourselves and it was tough for a lot of lads, for everyone in the building. You get to win a trophy at Croke Park with all your mates, at the end of the day, I would have taken that.
'I definitely wouldn't say it was a failure, but there's definitely some more in this club and more in the lads, so hopefully there'll be a few years still ahead of us.'
Conan with the Lions at the Aviva Stadium. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Thoughts of Leinster have been pushed aside for now because Conan knows he has to bring his best to return to the starting Test shirt he wore on the last Lions tour in 2021.
He says he loved that trip to South Africa, even if the pandemic meant it was like 'eight weeks of kind of solitary confinement' with the squad. This time in Australia will be very different.
The injury to Caelan Doris means that Conan is the only out-and-out number eight in the squad, but Ben Earl and Henry Pollock have both played at the back of the scrum. Conan's leadership qualities add to his claims for a Test shirt. He will get his shot next Saturday against the Western Force in Perth.
Conan has been rooming with Welsh flanker Jac Morgan this week, enjoying his company even if the Irishman says, 'I need subtitles half the time, it's a strong Welsh accent!'
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He knows that the battle for back row slots will be fierce, with Tom Curry and Josh van der Flier also firmly in the mix.
'There's some unbelievable athletes,' says Conan. 'We were training against the lads on Tuesday and the skillset and talent was incredibly high. I look forward to competing with the lads when I get the chance.
'I know Tom from before, I've been spending a good bit of time with Ben the last few days, a good fella and a great athlete. It's great to see them go to work and I'm sure myself and Josh, in particular, are excited to get in amongst them because we've only really had the one training day.
'The competition brings out the best in people and we're not here to just make up the numbers, so we'll look forward to competing with the lads.'
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