The Mayo man who played rugby in Finland: Mayo Sporting Diaspora

It can be a daunting prospect, leaving familiar shores and starting a new life abroad. However, Crossmolina's Ronan Rochford was fortunate enough as he was able to link up with fellow Irishmen even before he left Mayo for Finland.

The fact that there are thriving Irish communities around the world is well known and Finland's capital Helsinki is no exception.

“The local GAA club had got knowledge of me moving over somehow and contacted me before I even left home. So that was nice because I felt welcomed very quickly,” he told The Mayo News.

Rochford, who for a time trained with the Mayo senior football team, certainly did not need any time to acclimatise sports-wise. After joining the GAA team, he quickly linked up with a rugby team in Helsinki, too.

“I think the skills from Gaelic football to rugby are quite transferable. So my fitness levels and kicking skills would have been quite high.”

What certainly is not so easily transferable is the weather. Ireland might have a lot of wind and rain but in Finland it's freezing cold.

'We had rugby training outside in winter at minus 25 degrees but fortunately the pitch was heated. So once you warmed up and kept moving it was fine. Some lads used to jog there or get the trams. Unfortunately there were no changing rooms, so you'd go home cold and wet.'

Interestingly, training and matches would usually take place in giant halls and domes. These are a big thing in Finland, quite literally.

“I played Gaelic and rugby in them and you wouldn't hit the roof, that's how big the halls are.”

Previous to arriving in Helsinki, Ronan had limited experience of rugby, having only trained a few months and played a bit of tag, but up in Finland, even as green as he was, he hit the ground running from the start.

“When I came here, I realised if someone is playing rugby and you can run and catch a ball and kick a ball and you don't drop the ball, you're immediately ahead of the game.”

Rochford became leading try scorer in his first season and it didn't stop there. The Crossmolina man was made captain as the club went on to win the Finnish Championship. He then got called up for the Finnish national team and played a couple of international matches.

“We were lined up for the national anthems and I was standing there one of the smallest on the team and the big Finnish lads were singing their hearts out, it was mental really.

“After that first match in Gibraltar, we went to the pub and I saw the person behind the bar pulling pints one by one. The lads figured out that me, being Irish, must be good at this so I ended up pulling 25 pints one after another in one go and then I pulled another 25, to get ahead of the game,” he added.

It is important to remind readers, that in Finland the players have to pay the expenses so Ronan ended up paying for flights and accommodation just to play the game, but he has no regrets.

“The friendships I made were important. I moved over to Finland not knowing anyone but with the rugby games I got to travel and represent the country I live in. It's a huge honour and a huge challenge,” he explained while also adding his sporting adventure is an excellent ice-breaker to initiate conversation.

“I played for Finland, you know. That would start a nice way to start a chat.”

Rochford kneeling third from the right in the front

Unfortunately Ronan's budding rugby career was cut short due to a concussion sustained in an international test against Luxemburg.

“I went up for a high ball and got hit by one of those giants. I had my nose broken but the concussion was the worst. It was only then that I realised that I had several concussions when I was younger playing Gaelic. I wasn't aware of the symptoms at the time.

“I really enjoyed playing rugby in Finland, apart from the socialising, there were lower expectations whereas with Gaelic football in Ireland it's serious and there is more pressure to perform.”

Even if Ronan Rochford's international career was not to last long enough to maybe play bigger nations, Finland has climbed up the rankings now and it is a nice thought, that it came with the little contribution of a Mayo expat from Crossmolina.

The Mayo sporting diaspora is wide and ever-changing.