Durcan delivers

Durcan delivers on his opening night

Rob Murphy

ON Tuesday evening Connacht rugby took another significant step towards a stable future hosting South Africa in front of a sold-out Sportsground. In the sun drenched surroundings they competed bravely with the World Cup contenders from start to finish, thrilling their loyal and novice followers in the process.
The significance of the entire event cannot be underestimated. After the turmoil of 2003, when the extinction of professional rugby in the west was signed, sealed and almost delivered, Connacht rugby slowly began a building process where the goal was a stable professional franchise to help cement the future of the game at all levels. That phase now seems to be complete.
A defeat by as small a margin of  18-3 was almost unimaginable before kick-off with South Africa having concluded a two month intensive pre World Cup training regime. Connacht, by contrast, were in week six of pre-season and were playing their first game of the new campaign against a team that had demolished Namibia 105-13 just six days earlier.
Their effort included a stirring defensive system that was unlocked on just two occasions. It was a Connacht side packed full of young talent with Peter Durcan from Mayo, Joe Merrigan from Galway and Aidan Wynne from Athlone, in particular, announcing their arrival on the professional scene.
Durcan’s display at full-back was another major boost to the game in Mayo. The young Ballina man (who came to prominence with the Irish under 21s two seasons ago) was selected at full-back last week once it was clear Daniel Riordan was injured. Durcan also delivered in the biggest game of his career to date. 
Three gutsy try-saving tackles in the first twenty minutes had the home crowd and the Setanta Sports pundits raving about his potential. Durcan, however, has the level head required of every professional and while delighted with his form he was eager to emphasise that he was merely fulfilling his role.
“Not to glorify it but it’s my job to get across there to make those tackles, if I don’t get across no one else will,” he told The Mayo News. “We are using a different type of defence this season and it puts a bit of extra pressure on the full-back but it’s working very well.
“I haven’t played a whole lot of rugby at full-back, most of my rugby has been at ten so in the lead-up to the game I asked for advice from the guys here like Danny (Riordan) and Matt (Mostyn),” he added. “It does build your confidence making those early tackles, at 15 it’s important to get into the game early.”
Durcan was full of praise for the management trio of Michael Bradley, Eric Elwood and Dan McFarland regarding the pre-season work, which included the implementation of a new defensive system. He also emphasised the important role of fitness advisors Des Ryan and Kevin Craddock, pointing out that the teams aggressive finish to the game was directly attributable to their fitness levels.
Perhaps what is most pleasing about the former Ballina underage star’s post-match comments is the way he outlined his main goals for the season ahead. While the glory and exposure of playing games against international sides is tremendous, Durcan has one straightforward target for the coming weeks.
“I think our focus is going to have to be just as high for the forthcoming challenge games. It’s great to play in these matches but everyone, myself included, has a main goal of making the starting XV for the first Magners League game against the Dragons on September 21.”
Perhaps we should leave it to South African coach, Jake White, to have the final word on where he feels this Connacht side are going.
“I’m really happy for Michael Bradley and his team after this performance,” he said on Tuesday. “There was a lot of talk about the position of Connacht as a fourth franchise and whether they should be kept on but there is more than enough there for Connacht people to be really proud about.”