JAMES HART RECEIVED a call that would tip his life ambition on its head when he was riding the 46A bus out to Donnybrook.
The Irish scrumhalf, who has earned a three-year contract with Grenoble after a string of impressive performances, had just received his Leaving Cert results and was heading back to meet up with friends. 395 points was a very good return but he felt he was capable of a 400+ return. Still, Hart was pleased with his efforts.
He answered his mobile phone and was greeted with some unfortunate news by his coach at Leinster — he would not be offered a spot at the province’s Academy. Hart recalled:
‘There is no place for you’, I was told. Time stopped and my heart stopped too. I couldn’t even hear what he was saying after that. I got off at St Stephen’s Green and walked back to Belvedere College. The rest of the day was a bit of a blur but I didn’t go out that night to celebrate my results.
“That was the bottom for me. You realise that all the training you did, all the work you put in, was for nothing.”
Despite the unfortunate timing of the call to Hart, Leinster can justifiably argue that they made the right call. With spots for just two scrumhalves for the Academy that year, the Blues went with John Cooney and Luke McGrath. The former appeared off the bench in Leinster’s Heineken Cup win over Ulster, in 2012, while the latter has excelled for Ireland U20s and made his senior debut at the tail-end of last season.
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The disappointment has faded for the 22-year-old, who is now in his third year at Grenoble. After two solid years in the French club’s academy, Hart appeared for the club near the end of last season and was expecting another season on the fringes. He was told, during the summer, that he may play ‘five or six times’ and had targeted the Amlin Challenge Cup as his window of opportunity.
He took his chance, off the bench, as Grenoble rotated their squad to cope with 10 league games in the opening two months. A start away to Clermont followed before Hart put in an excellent performance in an impressive win over Jonathan Sexton’s Racing Metro. Hart scored a fine try [go to 1:30] and kicked two penalties and was named star performer of that weekend’s league fixtures by Midi Olympique.
He told TheScore.ie, “The attention I’m getting now doesn’t necessarily mean you are better than you were three months ago.”
“At the start of the season, I was thinking that I needed to express myself and show a bit more of what I could do. People come up to me now and say how lucky I am. I agree that you need a bit of luck but behind every game I’ve done well in, there has been hours and hours of work put in to get to those moments. The big games are the easy part. The hard part is the training, the extra sessions; not giving in when it gets tough. I’m going to keep doing the hard part.
“Whenever I’m a bit tired or think I might not do an extra passing or kicking session, I tell myself that I don’t want to go back to those days [of the Leinster disappointment]. I don’t want to feel like that again.”
The dorm room at the Grenoble academy has been replaced by an apartment and the Irish contingent has increased at the club. Mike Prendergast and Bernard Jackman [now full-time] are on the coaching staff and Shane O’Leary made his debut, at outhalf, earlier this month.
Hart is also capable of playing outhalf and his placekicking talents make Ruan Pienaar comparisons and easy one for Irish rugby fans. The Irishman is a massive fan of the Springbok, who ‘always looks in control’, but cites former teammate Jonathan Pélissié [now with Montpellier] as a role model. Jonny Wilkinson is another.
Hart will be 26 by the time his new Grenoble contract expires and he sees his future, for now, making a name for himself in France. “I would love to come home and play for Leinster, for Munster, for any of the Irish teams. Unfortunately, the path I have taken has taken me somewhere else.
I’ve so much to prove, now, over here. The day I’m ready to come home, be it in one, two, three or four years, I’ll definitely consider it. I don’t want to come home to be second or third choice. I wouldn’t go to make up the numbers.”
Hart starts against Oyonnax in the Top 14 this evening and a continuation of his upward trajectory may soon lead to questions about his international ambitions. His stint at the Grenoble academy has secured qualification to play for France, if he so chooses.
“That is completely down the road,” he commented, “and I would have to be playing regularly and at a high level. If it ever was to come down to it, it kind of depends on who comes to me first.”
Like rugby? Follow TheScore.ie’s dedicated Twitter account @rugby_ie >
James Hart loving Top 14 life after Leinster axe on Leaving Cert results day
JAMES HART RECEIVED a call that would tip his life ambition on its head when he was riding the 46A bus out to Donnybrook.
The Irish scrumhalf, who has earned a three-year contract with Grenoble after a string of impressive performances, had just received his Leaving Cert results and was heading back to meet up with friends. 395 points was a very good return but he felt he was capable of a 400+ return. Still, Hart was pleased with his efforts.
He answered his mobile phone and was greeted with some unfortunate news by his coach at Leinster — he would not be offered a spot at the province’s Academy. Hart recalled:
“That was the bottom for me. You realise that all the training you did, all the work you put in, was for nothing.”
Despite the unfortunate timing of the call to Hart, Leinster can justifiably argue that they made the right call. With spots for just two scrumhalves for the Academy that year, the Blues went with John Cooney and Luke McGrath. The former appeared off the bench in Leinster’s Heineken Cup win over Ulster, in 2012, while the latter has excelled for Ireland U20s and made his senior debut at the tail-end of last season.
The disappointment has faded for the 22-year-old, who is now in his third year at Grenoble. After two solid years in the French club’s academy, Hart appeared for the club near the end of last season and was expecting another season on the fringes. He was told, during the summer, that he may play ‘five or six times’ and had targeted the Amlin Challenge Cup as his window of opportunity.
He took his chance, off the bench, as Grenoble rotated their squad to cope with 10 league games in the opening two months. A start away to Clermont followed before Hart put in an excellent performance in an impressive win over Jonathan Sexton’s Racing Metro. Hart scored a fine try [go to 1:30] and kicked two penalties and was named star performer of that weekend’s league fixtures by Midi Olympique.
YouTube credit: Ballboll81
He told TheScore.ie, “The attention I’m getting now doesn’t necessarily mean you are better than you were three months ago.”
“At the start of the season, I was thinking that I needed to express myself and show a bit more of what I could do. People come up to me now and say how lucky I am. I agree that you need a bit of luck but behind every game I’ve done well in, there has been hours and hours of work put in to get to those moments. The big games are the easy part. The hard part is the training, the extra sessions; not giving in when it gets tough. I’m going to keep doing the hard part.
“Whenever I’m a bit tired or think I might not do an extra passing or kicking session, I tell myself that I don’t want to go back to those days [of the Leinster disappointment]. I don’t want to feel like that again.”
The dorm room at the Grenoble academy has been replaced by an apartment and the Irish contingent has increased at the club. Mike Prendergast and Bernard Jackman [now full-time] are on the coaching staff and Shane O’Leary made his debut, at outhalf, earlier this month.
Hart is also capable of playing outhalf and his placekicking talents make Ruan Pienaar comparisons and easy one for Irish rugby fans. The Irishman is a massive fan of the Springbok, who ‘always looks in control’, but cites former teammate Jonathan Pélissié [now with Montpellier] as a role model. Jonny Wilkinson is another.
Hart will be 26 by the time his new Grenoble contract expires and he sees his future, for now, making a name for himself in France. “I would love to come home and play for Leinster, for Munster, for any of the Irish teams. Unfortunately, the path I have taken has taken me somewhere else.
Hart starts against Oyonnax in the Top 14 this evening and a continuation of his upward trajectory may soon lead to questions about his international ambitions. His stint at the Grenoble academy has secured qualification to play for France, if he so chooses.
“That is completely down the road,” he commented, “and I would have to be playing regularly and at a high level. If it ever was to come down to it, it kind of depends on who comes to me first.”
Like rugby? Follow TheScore.ie’s dedicated Twitter account @rugby_ie >
This is the 22-year-old Irish scrumhalf that upstaged Racing Métro’s Jonny Sexton
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