BEFORE WE GET to the end of one dream as he chooses to pursue another, his thoughts of following Jonny Hill’s path and going from ‘unknown’ to a future British and Irish Lion, there’s another big decision to talk about.
A year ago Jack Dunne came out. The news was positively received, people using words and phrases such as ‘brave’, ‘mature’, ‘a role model’, ‘fearless’ to describe it. Sadly, a few others used less pleasant language. “But they are only Twitter bots,” Dunne smiles. “Real people, you know, they’ve been amazing.”
It’s easy to see why strangers have reached out. He has an old fashioned mannerly charm mixed with modern-day awareness. One sure way to help people who need your guidance is via social media.
“When I made the decision to come out publicly, the kind of thing that persuaded me to do so was the thought that, you know, I might be able to help one kid, a 15 or 16-year-old. ‘If that’s the case, I said to myself, well, it will be worth it’.”
The frequent messages on Twitter and Instagram since have been heartfelt, the support widespread. “They make your day,” Dunne says.
Jake Daniels, the young Blackpool footballer, got a similarly positive response when he came out earlier this year, Dunne among those who showed his respect. “Some football crowds give a lot of abuse so it is probably even more difficult for Jake to do what he did; so it’s incredible (his decision).”
More incredulous was a much different decision, the cowardly and greedy one taken by FIFA way back in 2010 to award Qatar the World Cup, Qatar a country where male homosexuality is illegal. Somehow, the tournament is still going ahead there. “Like what kind of message are they (FIFA) sending by doing something like that?” asks Dunne. “I saw the other day that they tweeted in favour of pride month.
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Dunne arrives for training with Josh van der Flier. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“And my thoughts were, ‘right, it is great to send a tweet and stuff, but if your actions are completely contrary to the tweet’s message then clearly you are following where the money is’.
“Unfortunately that is way the world seems to work. I’d be really disappointed if World Rugby ever decided to host a tournament in a country where there are really bad conditions for groups of people.”
Thoughts of World Cups seem really far away now for a young player who is leaving Leinster essentially because his game-time there was limited to just 20 appearances over four years.
He’s 23 now, the same age as Marcus Smith and Romain Ntamack, who were contemporaries in a junior World Cup, but who have since gone to achieve special things. Dunne, meanwhile, is still on amber waiting for the career lights to turn green.
“Growing up I was always a Leinster fan, so anytime you put the jersey on, it does not matter if you have ten years left at the club or ten minutes, you have an onus to do your best in it,” he says.
Doing his best was made difficult by circumstances. Last season, from 23 October through to 6 March, he played six times – which sounds great until you see how many minutes he got in each game: 6,5,15, 9,8,23. “It’s hard to put together a good run of form unless you are getting minutes every week.”
It was made harder when a breakthrough 80 minutes was followed by an ankle injury which curtailed his progress. Before he knew it, it was February 2022, 11 months on from his previous appearance. By now Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, had called. Around Devon, Baxter is regarded as a moulder of men not just a coach of players.
“Personally, I can only see an upward performance curve in him,” said Baxter.
That was just what Dunne needed to hear.
“There are always going to be fellahs who kick on really early,” Dunne says, “then others who find form later in their career. You obviously want to be playing at the highest level you can right now but it is also important to know that you can’t become a superstar overnight.”
Baxter’s speciality is polishing rough diamonds. There’s been a succession of them, going back to the Bull’s brother, Tom Hayes, to Ulster reject Gareth Steenson and then the England contingent: Henry Slade, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell.
By 2021, he’d four Lions on his panel, Jonny Hill being the one who caught Dunne’s eye. “You look at Jonny’s story, where he was at Gloucester, where he ended up under Rob, becoming a Lion. That’s the career trajectory I’d hope to go along.”
First things first he has to finish off his season at Leinster. Who knows he could have a big part to play in next week’s final. All it takes are a couple of injuries. Post Marseille, where they lost the Champions Cup final to La Rochelle, life was tough.
“Everyone was devastated because the whole year, we had worked so hard. I won’t be part of it next year but the lads will come back hungrier than ever. A worse team would have let the defeat get to them and fold and let that be the end of their season but this is an incredible group of players. We showed that against Glasgow and I have no doubt there will be a good performance tomorrow night (in their URC semi-final against the Bulls).”
All proceeds from the sale of this years’ rainbow laces, available on www.aviva.ie/pride for €4, will go to Belong To – a charity which supports young people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
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'What sort of message is sent when FIFA decide to host a World Cup in Qatar?'
BEFORE WE GET to the end of one dream as he chooses to pursue another, his thoughts of following Jonny Hill’s path and going from ‘unknown’ to a future British and Irish Lion, there’s another big decision to talk about.
A year ago Jack Dunne came out. The news was positively received, people using words and phrases such as ‘brave’, ‘mature’, ‘a role model’, ‘fearless’ to describe it. Sadly, a few others used less pleasant language. “But they are only Twitter bots,” Dunne smiles. “Real people, you know, they’ve been amazing.”
It’s easy to see why strangers have reached out. He has an old fashioned mannerly charm mixed with modern-day awareness. One sure way to help people who need your guidance is via social media.
“When I made the decision to come out publicly, the kind of thing that persuaded me to do so was the thought that, you know, I might be able to help one kid, a 15 or 16-year-old. ‘If that’s the case, I said to myself, well, it will be worth it’.”
The frequent messages on Twitter and Instagram since have been heartfelt, the support widespread. “They make your day,” Dunne says.
Jake Daniels, the young Blackpool footballer, got a similarly positive response when he came out earlier this year, Dunne among those who showed his respect. “Some football crowds give a lot of abuse so it is probably even more difficult for Jake to do what he did; so it’s incredible (his decision).”
More incredulous was a much different decision, the cowardly and greedy one taken by FIFA way back in 2010 to award Qatar the World Cup, Qatar a country where male homosexuality is illegal. Somehow, the tournament is still going ahead there. “Like what kind of message are they (FIFA) sending by doing something like that?” asks Dunne. “I saw the other day that they tweeted in favour of pride month.
“And my thoughts were, ‘right, it is great to send a tweet and stuff, but if your actions are completely contrary to the tweet’s message then clearly you are following where the money is’.
“Unfortunately that is way the world seems to work. I’d be really disappointed if World Rugby ever decided to host a tournament in a country where there are really bad conditions for groups of people.”
Thoughts of World Cups seem really far away now for a young player who is leaving Leinster essentially because his game-time there was limited to just 20 appearances over four years.
He’s 23 now, the same age as Marcus Smith and Romain Ntamack, who were contemporaries in a junior World Cup, but who have since gone to achieve special things. Dunne, meanwhile, is still on amber waiting for the career lights to turn green.
“Growing up I was always a Leinster fan, so anytime you put the jersey on, it does not matter if you have ten years left at the club or ten minutes, you have an onus to do your best in it,” he says.
Doing his best was made difficult by circumstances. Last season, from 23 October through to 6 March, he played six times – which sounds great until you see how many minutes he got in each game: 6,5,15, 9,8,23. “It’s hard to put together a good run of form unless you are getting minutes every week.”
It was made harder when a breakthrough 80 minutes was followed by an ankle injury which curtailed his progress. Before he knew it, it was February 2022, 11 months on from his previous appearance. By now Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, had called. Around Devon, Baxter is regarded as a moulder of men not just a coach of players.
“Personally, I can only see an upward performance curve in him,” said Baxter.
That was just what Dunne needed to hear.
“There are always going to be fellahs who kick on really early,” Dunne says, “then others who find form later in their career. You obviously want to be playing at the highest level you can right now but it is also important to know that you can’t become a superstar overnight.”
Baxter’s speciality is polishing rough diamonds. There’s been a succession of them, going back to the Bull’s brother, Tom Hayes, to Ulster reject Gareth Steenson and then the England contingent: Henry Slade, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell.
By 2021, he’d four Lions on his panel, Jonny Hill being the one who caught Dunne’s eye. “You look at Jonny’s story, where he was at Gloucester, where he ended up under Rob, becoming a Lion. That’s the career trajectory I’d hope to go along.”
First things first he has to finish off his season at Leinster. Who knows he could have a big part to play in next week’s final. All it takes are a couple of injuries. Post Marseille, where they lost the Champions Cup final to La Rochelle, life was tough.
“Everyone was devastated because the whole year, we had worked so hard. I won’t be part of it next year but the lads will come back hungrier than ever. A worse team would have let the defeat get to them and fold and let that be the end of their season but this is an incredible group of players. We showed that against Glasgow and I have no doubt there will be a good performance tomorrow night (in their URC semi-final against the Bulls).”
All proceeds from the sale of this years’ rainbow laces, available on www.aviva.ie/pride for €4, will go to Belong To – a charity which supports young people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Get instant updates on your province on The42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
jack dunne Leinster Pride Month