As Leinster defeated Munster 21-16 in a nail biter at the Aviva Stadium, Irish fans watched on as many of those involved in the recent World Cup campaign have now returned to the field, including Jack Conan. Making his first start at blindside since 2017 for Leinster, he picked up the player of the match award in a niggle-ridden clash with his province's oldest rival.
There is 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 like Leinster v Munster. 😤 💯
🎥 | Behind the scenes at Aviva Stadium as 50,000 watched our epic 21-16 win over Munster. #LEIvMUN #FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/UFvXoN2cda— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) November 26, 2023
Speaking in an interview with the Rugby Pod, Andrew Porter stated, "I thought I'd be able to see my family and friends but I didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to be by myself completely when I came home. It'll be easier now being back in Leinster, a different environment. It was shit, I'm not going to lie."
This is a sentiment that has been talked about more and more for players coming back from the Rugby World Cup environment. Conan is another who spoke to the media this week and expressed, much like Porter, how difficult it is to return back home from the incredible environment that the national team had created.
"We came back and it was lashing rain, horrible"- Conan
Conan spoke about returning home and his struggles to initially re-acclimate to life at home:
The first week at home (after France) was miserable, absolutely miserable, we came back, it was lashing rain, horrible. You go from being around the lads 24/7, having unbelievable craic to being back on a Monday and you wake up on Tuesday.
Much like Porter had described, Conan stated that even close family would find it difficult to console the players. It is one of the strange injustices of an early exit from a competition that has been built up so much, the tournament continues and so does life for everyone else. All the while, players are given this space to think over and re play moments from the biggest game of their lives, in their head. It is probably one of the loneliest times in a player's career. He stated,
“My wife had gone to work and then you’re all alone. You are by yourself and it’s so strange to not be in that environment anymore. The only way to fix it is get back among the lads and I’m lucky that so many lads live around and you are able to share that misery and pick it apart and spend time in each other’s company. The only real fix is to get back into the environment, playing, back in blue and enjoying your work.
Conan on taking time away
This is a point both Porter and Conan have made. While reflection is important, all that players want to do is play. So returning back to work and occupying their time even while struggling with a loss of that magnitude is important. R&R is also important and members of the squad have done it in different ways. Caelan Doris holidayed to Las Vegas and watched U2 is the new 'sphere' arena, Porter took a trip to New York with his new wife in a 'delayed honeymoon' and Conan also took a holiday;
“The first week was brutally tough. Then we got away for a week to Dubai in the sun. A few of the lads were out there as well. It was nice to spend a bit of time with them again. It was tough at the start and then you kind of normalise with the standard of life back home, it helps sooth the pain a little bit.”
Resuming battle with Beirne
“Myself and Tadhg Beirne sat on the bus every single day (at the World Cup), every trip, and then you go from being really close and spending so much time together to trying to take each other’s head off and whack each other. But then you have a bit of a laugh at the bottom of the ruck, you know, there’s never any nastiness.”
