Stephen Smyth is loving life at Leinster

A week removed from captaining Leinster ‘A’ against Connacht Eagles, Carlow’s Stephen Smyth was one of 47 players, plus a number of coaches, that were on show last Thursday night as the province welcomed the public to their open training session at Terenure College RFC.

“It was a good experience,” Smyth said of his opportunity to lead the ‘A’ team.

“I was fortunate to captain in Toulouse as well (against Toulouse Espoirs); I think it’s the first time I’ve captained a Leinster team since maybe U19s or U18s, but it’s always special.

“You’re supposed to lead the group, put your own touch on the week and stuff, but with a club like Leinster, no matter what team you’re part of, or what age group - whether it’s ‘A’, seniors, whatever - there’s always a massive group of leaders, so it’s always very easy when those lads are helping.”

Smyth is also coming off a week in camp with the Ireland XV squad, where, despite not featuring against England ‘A’, he received plenty of praise from Head Coach Cullie Tucker.

“To be honest with you, I was very happy to get in and be in the conversation, because I had a hamstring injury earlier in the year and I haven’t played a game for Leinster yet this season, so it was a nice privilege to be in there and be in the conversation,” he said.

“Obviously, a frustrating week enough when you’re not playing, everyone wants to be playing, but a good experience to work with the coaches from different provinces with different outlooks.

“I’ve worked with Cullie a few times now, and he’s always been very good to me, and given me great feedback and great advice.

“It’s great to see that he’s heading on now to lead up to U20s, because he’s a great head coach, and I think head coaching was obviously the next step for him, and I’ve no doubt that he’s going to excel at it.”

As a hooker, Smyth is part of Leinster’s embarrassment of riches in the position, but the Carlow man says he views that as a positive.

“I’m very fortunate that I get to train with, which I look at in Dan (Sheehan) and Ro (Ronan Kelleher), potentially two of the top five best hookers, if not top three hookers in the world. I think so highly of them, and I learn so much from them, even just being in the same environment.

“Same with Gus (McCarthy) and John (McKee). They are both quality, and absolutely in conversations for that next level. So even when Dan and Ro are away, I get to learn so much from Gus and John; and in fairness, the five of us - and even Lee Fitzpatrick, the sixth in the academy - we all have a great working relationship.

“Obviously, everyone wants to play, and at the end of the day only two players can play at the weekend, but the working relationship during the week is great.”

Sean O’Brien, the legendary Tullow Tank, was one of the coaches leading the training session. Smyth says it’s nice to have a fellow Carlow man in camp.

“It’s great, in fairness to have Sean; it’s even nice to have someone local in the building that you can have a chat about the goings-on of home stuff,” he said.

“And in fairness to Sean, he’s been a great asset, coaching-wise, for Leinster over the last few years. Obviously, he’s focusing on the contact and stuff, and maybe doing a bit of defence and stuff, but he’s really helped me around my contact stuff, and I suppose in the tackle and the breakdown. There’s no doubt that coaching was definitely the right avenue for him.”

Hundreds of loyal Leinster fans braved the cold for the chance to see the Leinster stars of tomorrow learn their craft alongside the likes of Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Ryan Baird, All Black Reiko Ioane and double World Cup-winning Springbok RG Snyman.

While the lack of privacy may make these training sessions a little more difficult for the players and coaches alike, Smyth feels they are an essential part of provincial rugby here in Ireland.

“I think it’s something Leinster should absolutely do more, and in fairness they’re very good,” he said. “They’re trying to do the 12-county tour and get down across the province, which I think is great, because at the end of the day I know a lot of Leinster Rugby is focused in and around Dublin, and I suppose that’s a small segment of Leinster, but the appreciation outside of Dublin is massive.

“These sort of sessions, whether you’re up here in Terenure, you’re down in Wicklow where we were earlier in the year, Greystones, Carlow, wherever it is, it’s great, and it’s always massively appreciated.

“Obviously, it makes the day a little bit longer (training at night), but for me it’s the same as AIL training - I’d be in Leinster in the morning for my meetings in my gym, and then I’d be training in the evening, so you might have a couple of hundred more people or whatever, but it’s great, we’re very appreciative of it, and it’s very special.”