ADAM BYRNE IS raring to go, so much so that Saturdayโs Pro14 opener against Benetton canโt come quickly enough. It has been a long pre-season for the players, none more so than Byrne, who missed Leinsterโs run-in due to a quad injury.
The winger was forced to go under the knife as a season of real promise ended in deep frustration, but after a summer of rest and rehab, Byrne is back in peak physical condition and ready to hit the ground running at the Stadio Monigo.
Having enjoyed a largely injury-free run last term and, in turn, produced a string of consistently excellent performances, Byrne started 13 games for Leinster and had earned his shot on the wing in big European games against Toulouse and Ulster.
Instead of playing his part in the Champions Cup and Pro14 finals, Byrne had to watch on from the sidelines but the layoff was used to work on other aspects of his game, as the 25-year-old bids to build on what he did last year.
Without encountering any hiccups on his road to recovery, Byrne was able to feature heavily during the pre-season block, scoring a try against Coventry and getting useful minutes under his belt against Canada and Northampton.
โIโm itching for the start of the season,โ he says. โI was rehabbing at the start of pre-season so it felt pretty long for me. Watching all the rugby thatโs going on at the moment in the World Cup I just canโt wait for the season to start.
โI want to keep building, keep growing, get better as a player and hopefully that will bring more opportunities for me within Leinster and hopefully bigger things on top of that.โ
Starting with Saturdayโs clash against Benetton, Leinster have six Pro14 games between now and the start of the Champions Cup in mid-November, at which point the internationals will have returned from the World Cup.
With the arrival of Cian Kelleher adding to the competition in Leinsterโs back three, Byrne is keen to make the most of his opportunities during this first block of the campaign to ensure heโs in a strong position once the European action rolls around.
โEveryone wants to own the jersey and we donโt want to give it up when the lads come back from the World Cup,โ he continues. โWe want to do the best we can in the Leinster jersey so when they come back, there is a bit of competition there and it is not going to be easy. We are giving the coaches tough choices to make.
โIn certain positions, there are a lot of people out, in other positions the younger lads are going to get a chance. Itโs an exciting time for the club.โ
As for his own ambitions of establishing himself on the Leinster wing regardless of who is available, Byrne says: โThat is a goal for me. I am 25 now. Itโs been my dream to play for Leinster since I was 12 or 13 and started getting into rugby.
โYeah, I really want to own that jersey, play in the big games, play in the finals at the end of the season, get on the pitch when we are lifting some silverware. Thatโs a long term goal, short term itโs about training well and taking it game by game.โ
Overall, using the confidence gained from last seasonโs performances, Byrne is in a good place heading into the 2019/20 campaign.
โI feel pretty good,โ he adds. โWhen I was injured I had a lot of time to work on myself as a person and as a leader. I have been doing mindfulness for the last year and a half, that has really helped me stay in the moment and just take a step back.
โI do feel really confident. Maybe at times I donโt notice, some people will say, โyou look confident or your confidence is backโ but I donโt notice it at the time. I do feel really good physically and mentally and I just canโt wait for the season to start.โ
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Great to see Galway on the rise again.
Great to see a shock!!
Too much mileage on that Mayo teamโs clock now. Change all the managers they want but theyโre a county of perennial losers and the last 60 years have shown that.
From a disappointed Mayo fan well done Galway. Ye played with hunger and fight. Good luck in the final. As for our ladsโฆgiven us many great daysโฆdonโt write us off just yet tho
Good look against us dubs
We will have a job on to meet da dubs this yearโฆlayers need to show character now
Onions have layers
Go home Reese, youโre drunk.
If you manage to get that bracelet off you ankle Alex, we might see you at the Gameโฆ
What a win for Galway! About time Mayo were knocked off their perch in Connacht. But this Mayo team is never going to win an all-Ireland. Theyโre the chokers of GAA
Yeah Mayo are serious chokers, that must be it. It was never down to losing to better teams on the day and Mayo were always favourites in the finals they lost.
Sean would you say that to the face of a Mayo playerโฆour GAA players give us so much entertainment. Your not a real GAA fan with that comment.
They are chokers. They should have 2 all Irelandโs from the last 4 years in the bag by now. They donโt win. What do they do? They sack their manager. They need to keep the same manager and then they might go somewhere. But seriously, give me a team thatโs more choker than Mayo. Theyโve blown their chance to win an all Ireland.
And surprise surprise youโre from Mayoโฆ
Mayo will bounce back and will have a longer summer than Galway but theyโre as far off on AI as they have been in years. Theyโve had largely the same group of players for 4 years while other counties have brought in fresh talent. U21s offer hope for the future but it ainโt happening this year.
Mayoโs chance is gone. 2013 was their biggest chance. They threw that away. 2012 Donegal outplayed them. 2014 Kerry beat them fair and square in the replay. But Mayo shouldโve won the drawn game. The only teams I can see winning an all Ireland in the next few years is Dublin, Kerry and possibly Tyrone
You are not beating the dubs
Agreed
But I donโt think theyโll get as much as a 5 in a row. Theyโll slip up somewhere
Never will meet a better team than this Dublin team will Galway??
Mayo are short a consistent full-back and more clinical forwards of an all-Ireland. Maybe there is too much mileage on the clock now but calling them chokers or bottlers is the lazy option.
โ2014 Kerry beat them fair and square in the replay.โ Haha and surprise surprise youโre from Kerry.
Read up the reports on the replay : โKerry deservedly see off Mayo in thrillerโ . For drawn game : โOโLeary the hero as Kerry get out of jailโ. I rest my case
Ha youโre gas. Just to humour you I googled your first โreportโ with quotes and no results were found. The first result without the quotes was an rte article in which the majority of the top comments are about Mayo getting rode by the ref. But at least I realise youโre just trolling now so itโs grand
Sean we choke to in hurling finals so wouldnโt be roaring that too loud, letโs just bask in the win, bragging rights are ours for a year but still lot of games to be played this year
Yeah Mayo lads are just in a thick mood. Leave them. They lost!
It was in the Kerry and cork papers you dope. But I forgot they probably wouldnโt be online. So my fault I guess..,
Iโm in quite a good position here. Kerry have 37 all-Irelandโs. How much do Mayo have? 0 in the 67 years or something to that effect!
You do know you were watching football, not hurling donโt you?
How much do Galway have? 7. Theyโre the 3rd most successful team. So Mayo go home
I think you might have the best name in any of these comment sections Iโve seen. Congratulations, father
Are you a jack in the box Sean? Itโs impossible for you to keep quiet.
And surprise surprise youโre a dirty manc! Stick to your foreign sports good lad
Well done Galway. Was there and support was minimal but fantastic to beat mayo after 8 years. Mayo will be a tough team in qualifiers .
Mayo and cork in round 2 qualifiers. Didnโt see that coming!
Hang on finster could still bow out like damp squid!
At least its not Tipp ?? An easy one for Mayo Well done Galway what a 20minute spell
How can you say minimal?? I was there and thought there was good support for galway. Did you not see the crowd on the field after
Itโs squib you idiotโฆ Not damp squid??? Delighted for Galwayโฆ The team of chokers does it again!!! Filled the togs. This team wonโt win anything either. The wait goes on for another 5 years!
For anyone wondering, a squib is a firework, so a damp squib is useless/pointless. A damp squid on the other hand, well, squids live in the sea, so arenโt they always damp? https://youtu.be/MUQNUwwIEFo
That just saved what had been a terrible day in sport HON GAILLIMH, poor game of football but fantastic win, itโs not an all Ireland win, but at least we know what that like this millenium
Well done Galway from a very wet and weary Mayo fan, deserved to win today
Plan was to sneak through the back door and surprise everyone you never know
Mayo are backdoor sneakers you say.
Enda syndrome spreading to his flock?
21000! Fantastic crowd for a Saturday evening game
Very poor turnout from Galway. Not even their own fans gave them a hope, anybody saying that here lying. Mirrors our game 2011 vs Cork and the beginning of out All Ireland journey.
*our.
I was there and thought the galway crowd could have been bigger but was still good. The crowd on the pitch after showed that
I wouldnโt even bother relying to such a rubbish comment!
A crowd of 21,000 Brown Boots, Galway GAA said roughly 5000 of their allotment was sold according to the Connacht telegraph. 5000. But go on tell me more about how Iโm talking rubbish. Ray Silke and Brehany (Galway ex-players) predicted a Mayo landslide. Nobody expected the result yesterday.
I bought at the gate and am a Galway supporter so Iโd imagine Iโd be under the mayo ticket allocation. Iโm sure a lot did the same so 5000 isnโt an accurate number. I actually thought there wasnโt such a huge number from Galway until I seen the pitch invasion at the end of the match. Gaillimh abรบ
Hon Galway
Is that what it is like to win an all Ireland??
Galway deserved the win, too many of the Mayo lads werenโt at the races. Maybe all the talk in the media writing off Galway got into their heads. Hopefully a shock like today could benefit them for the rest of the year.
However, I think itโs a bit lazy to say the Mayo team have to many miles on the clock. Boyle and Higgins were probably our only players to play to their potential and they were the 2 oldest guys in the starting 15.
Not a shock to Galway
Mayo for Sam
Dubs will take them out
Baby get out of town!!!!
Mayo still in with a shout of 3rd place in Connaught.
Gutted. What a kick in the gut for the people of Mayo, but especially the players. Ironically, when the ambush was laid in the Hyde last year and we needed leaders Holmes and Connelly brought on Andy and Alan to calm the heads with 15 mins left; too little too late today. Awful call. Amazing how a team of our calibre can be so devoid of leaders when needed.
Hats off to Galway, utterly deserved. But will need more again to stop the Rossies I fear. Mayo and Galway is a derby; Ros will not fear you on that performance.
Luckily for Galway they have zero fear of Roscommon either.
The smart money will still be on them Sean, they aimed to peak for the league and Connacht and have well beaten Div 1 teams.
The standard of Refereeing left a lot to be desired here. A mayo man hauled down a Galway-man heading for goal at one stage and got no card at all. Flynn got a black late on for very little. A lot of fouls not punished and a little tug on a jersey punished every time. A poor show from the Cork man.
A lot of the time we Mayo people see people with class but when our county loses a match we seem to meet some people with no class
Because as a dub I have met some horrible mayo fans shouting at my family so I have no respect for any mayo fan as I just dislike them
Alex, Iโm a Mayo supporter and I can assure you Iโve known many people who have had serious abuse on the hilll while playing Dublin (and Iโm not talking banter!). Most people from Mayo (and anywhere else) would be desperate to swap tickets for the hill because they know hastle will be likely. BUTโฆ I have also in the past gotten tickets from Dublin fans,and during last years semi final I sat beside Dublin people who I had gotten tickets from, and afterwards I went drinking with a totally different group of Dublin fans! The idea that you think all Mayo fans or people from Mayo are โhorribleโ is absolutely fu*cking pathetic!
What a ridiculous comment Alex. Have you seen how some of the Dublin supporters behave?
Iโm a Roscommon supporter. In 2001 after the Connacht final not a single mayo supporter I encountered had anything nice to say. One was even singing (a term Iโd use loosely!) in the pub about how sheโd rather be a Ni##er than a Rossie! They couldnโt handle the fact that their lowly lowly little neighbours got their number on the day. Worst losers ever
What kind of abuse
I think the Dublin supporters are fine Jesse
Ah Alex. Youโre talking rubbish now. We (Dublin) have our fair share of a*shole supporters. Every county does. To say youโve no respect for a county as a hole because of a small % of their fans is ridiculous.
Dublin GAA supporters are amongst the best in the country. Any issues within croke park regarding Dublin fans inevitably come from other countyโs fans who have a rake of drink and go on the Hill to try wind up the Dubs. Take kilkenny a couple of weeks back when Dublin played laois. An all round great day out with no trouble whatsoever. As for Mayo,their fans give it but cannot take it it would seem,yoid think theyโd have learned after failure year on year. Other counties who go out in Finals and semis,Kerry,Dublin,Donegal etc are much more gracious on defeat.
I definitely wouldnโt say Dublin fans are the best. After the 2011 semi final (Donegal) a lot of abuse was thrown towards my family leaving Croke Park. In the 2014 semi final we had a group of Dubs in front of us mocking us for the first 15 or so minutes of the game telling us to go back up North. No county has perfect fans though. Iโve met some absolutely lovely Dunlin fans and Iโve met plenty of horrible Donegal and Mayo fans too.
โIโm from county A , all our fans are glorious angels , not like those fans from county B , theyโre all disgracefulโ <โ Such a suspicious mentality
John James Iโll never forget that day we were robbed a goal in the sixth minute of added the ref kept playing till roscommon got their winner besides that we were rubbish on the day!
See Barry your my case and point a few people following Mayo that donโt act with grace but you and a few others on here have to tarnish all our people with the same brush. We are constantly accused at being chokers and bad losers we have to read it here and on hoganstand forum and in the pubs and in the wider world when we talk about football and our footballers. Then when we are beaten those accusers go on their high horses when in fact they havenโt shown any grace themselves. When Mayo lose I try to be graceful to the victors because on those days we come up short. That day i see a Mayo team climb the hogan to collect same I shall not act with grace and I will see that day!
Only if youโre immortal. Hope the qualifiers treat yous well and we may meet in HQ later this summer!
At least some good out of a bad sports day, mayo or Galway wonโt be bringing Sam west this year but if Galway are good enough over the Next couple of years they probably wonโt chokeโฆ
Galway well done
Backdoor will suit Mayo they will learn from today there not the dubs
Could turn out to be a good thing โ the small number of poor standard games in Connaught hasnโt really helped Mayo in the biggest games
Gap between Connacht rivals increasing โ James Horan http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/gap-between-connacht-rivals-increasing-james-horan-34809138.html How does that humble pie taste James Horan? โHon the tribes!!!
Haha.well done Galway!
In the back door and out the front
Neither team could kick snow off a rope in that first half
Ah jasus, poor Mayo!
Ah thanks Suzy! Weโre used to making it through Connaught and having a good shot at the semis or the finalโฆbut never quite making it! Iโm severely disappointed and though I didnโt get to see the match today (because of the Sky thing) from the comments above it sounds like Galway deserved their win so good luck to them. The back door!
If you donโt score for over 20 minutes of the second half you can have no excuses. Well done Galway!
Well done the Mayo lads, maybe its time now to get rid of the medical staff and the groundsmenโฆitโs a long road with no turnโฆ
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Congrats Galway, no team can afford to be complacent against any other team. Ros, Cork, Mayo & Tyrone today have learned that the hard way this year. Mayo should get a good winning run through the qualifiers. Iโm hoping The Rossies will have enough to overcome Galway in the final
Fair play
Just a thoughtโฆ..The Mayo players should have a meeting asap and try to poach Kevin Walsh for the remainder of the season