A TRY-SCORER IN both the final and the stunning win over New Zealand during Ireland’s marvelous run in the 2016 World Rugby U20 Championship, Max Deegan deservedly became one of the faces of the successful campaign.
The powerful back row was not quite able to match the exceptional speed at which Jacob Stockdale, James Ryan and Andrew Porter managed to rise through the ranks from age grade to senior international status thereafter. However, against Wales today the 23-year-old made it a quartet of that team to graduate, entering the fray with nine minutes remaining of what turned out to be a 24-14 bonus point win.
The late cameo only served to whet his appetite for more international minutes ahead.
“We had a great team back then and the lads have done really well,” said the then number 8 who has been used across the back row by Leinster.
“I’ve just been focusing on myself, enjoying my rugby and working on that consistency, that impact into the game and work around the ball.
“Keep building though, this is not the top. We keep going from here. Keep enjoying my rugby.”
The former St Michael’s man keeps coming back to consistency as an element he has worked on improving in recent years. Part of that has been an effort to fill out his frame without losing any of his athleticism.
“I don’t want to lose (athleticism) I’d guess you’d call it my point of difference. So I don’t want to shy away from that.”
While he would have dearly loved to join Ryan, Stockdale and Porter in the Ireland setup earlier, today’s evidence suggests he has timed his run nicely, arriving when Ireland are making a serious effort to play expansive rugby. The kind of game that can open gaps for a quality broken field back row like Deegan.
“I definitely think that kind of rugby is really enjoyable and it definitely suits how I play. But that’s just part of the game, the nuts and bolts are most important. That expansive game is something I love playing in, we’re just going to keep trying to nail down the basics and if a chance comes to go wide, it’ll come.”
On its way too is Deegan’s initiation song, the cost of nine minutes on the international stage is a few syllable-heavy verses of Rapper’s Delight. He’s thrilled to pay the price.
“(To make the debut) was amazing. I think the lads put in a great shift before I can on. I was just hoping to come on and make an impact.”
He’ll have bigger impacts to come.
