WITH TWO EMERGING Ireland tours under his belt, James Culhane feels the time is right to take the next step in his rugby career.
Culhane was one of two players on the recent three-game tour to South Africa who also travelled with Emerging Ireland in 2022 – with Ulster forward Cormac Izuchukwu also involved on both occasions.
The Leinster back-rower played in the opening win against the Pumas and then stepped up to captain the team in the series closer against the Cheetahs, and while he missed an opportunity to potentially clock up some URC minutes, he returned to the province with no regrets.
The former Blackrock student knows this could be his breakout season. Culhane already has eight senior caps to his name and captained Leinster in pre-season after moving onto his first senior contract. The next step is to become a more familiar face in Leinster’s matchday squads.
“Emerging Ireland was another stepping stone and to get more leadership experience, especially in that final game, which was huge,” Culhane says.
“I think it’s time now to push into this Leinster team and it’s pretty obvious once you’re in a Leinster team that you’ll find yourself in an Irish squad, so that’s the goal. Especially in my first year of senior, I’m trying to make some moves.”
If things had panned out a little differently, he might already be further along that ladder.
Last season Culhane featured in five of Leinster’s seven opening games before suffering a serious injury setback away to Connacht in December.
“I tore my hammy and fractured my shoulder in the same game,” Culhane explains.
I think my hamstring is still somewhere around the 22-metre line of that pitch.
“I did them about two minutes apart. I did my shoulder first and was supposed to come off, but I think Max Deegan had gone off for bloods so then I couldn’t come off. They were like ‘two minutes and then you can come off’.
“Then we scored a try and I caught the kickoff and right before I was to come off two lads jumped on my shoulder and I just went to step off my left leg and I felt it pop. I’ve never had an injury like that before so I knew there was something seriously wrong here.
“Then the scan said it all. I kind of went from zero to a hundred because I had never had an injury like that in my life and then did the worst thing I could possibly do and it was straight into surgery.”
Life at Leinster has changed in the months since Culhane saw his season ended. Jacques Nienaber was only settling into his role as defence coach when Culhane enjoyed his run in the team, while Tyler Bleyendaal replaced Andrew Goodman as attack coach over the summer. As a result, the role of a Leinster back row player has evolved.
“Obviously Jacques has the new defensive set-up that we’ve never really experienced in Irish rugby before, so that’s still something we’re learning but we’ve made good ground on that.
“Attack-wise, it’s not too dissimilar [to last season], Tyler really enjoys just a playing what’s in front of us sort of thing, so it’s not always too systematic, especially on transition whereas in the past we would have just focused on playing our own system, not seeing outside of it. But Tyler really encourages players to take space if they see it.”
The Wicklow native is set to be involved as Leinster head to Connacht this weekend, and while that ensures plenty of homework to keep on top of, life away from rugby also keeps him busy.
Culhane is currently juggling his rugby career with studying for a degree in Electronic Engineering at UCD.
“I split my course up a little bit but on average it is like a 40-hour studying week, so it is tough to fit that in with training every week but when I got injured I had something to focus on and that was a big benefit.
“I wasn’t just feeling sorry for myself the whole time. I’ve done well so far and I don’t think my parents would ever let me quit the college side of things, so I am forced to do it.”
