THE MAN HIMSELF can scarcely believe it but Josh van der Flier is now one of the most experienced players within the Leinster squad.
While there are seven players in the current set-up that are older, the only players who made their Leinster debuts before the openside flanker are new record appearance holder Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong, Luke McGrath and his fellow Wicklow native, Jack Conan.
For van der Flier, his competitive bow for the Blues was just under 10 years ago – a Pro12 clash away to Zebre on 11 October, 2014.
He went on to pick up the first of his 64 Ireland senior caps to date against England in the third round of the Six Nations in 2016 and some advice provided by a provincial colleague around this time came to mind when Van der Flier sat down with the media earlier this week.
“I distinctly remember, it was my first time in Irish camp. I remember I was rooming with Rob Kearney for my first cap. It was in or around that time, I don’t know if it was the week after or it was that week and I remember him saying to me, ‘Make sure you take it all in and enjoy it’,” van der Flier recalled.
He’s like, ‘It goes incredibly quickly.’ He was younger than I am now and to me he was so old! And I can’t believe how quick it has gone so far.
“I feel great. I was thinking back even 10 years ago or so, I had a lot of hip issues coming out of the academy, I’d hurt my ankle. I’d had a run of injuries.
“Part of it, you start to learn what works for you and what doesn’t. You learn what you need to rehab and what you need to keep on top of; what exercises work for you, what your tendencies are. Your hamstrings get sore, or your ankle. I had a lot of injuries and my body was in way worse shape then than it is now. As in I feel great now.”
Undoubtedly the most significant injury that van der Flier has sustained as a professional player was the anterior cruciate ligament he damaged in the opening round of the 2018 Six Nations against France in Saint-Denis. He was replaced in that game by his Leinster team-mate Dan Leavy, who not only went on to play a pivotal role in Ireland securing a Grand Slam that year, but in the eastern province claiming a European Champions Cup and Pro14 double.
Yet Leavy subsequently struggled with injury himself and was forced to retire from rugby on medical advice at just 27 years of age in April 2022. As he reflects on his journey to being a 31-year-old with 144 Leinster appearances under his belt, Van der Flier is grateful that he is still going strong in the game.
“I remember my Dad saying he came across some article somewhere. It was the average professional career is, I can’t remember, it might have been like 60 games or something? The average, full professional career of rugby. I think it was 60 out of my head.
“Obviously, very grateful to be past that and I often think of Dan Leavy. He would have been a similar age to me growing up and he obviously had to finish up with injuries. It’s just part of the sport and I’m very blessed that I’m still going. Hopefully I can be like Cian Healy and keep going!”
Having enjoyed a final-quarter run-out in Healy’s history-making 281st Leinster game against Dragons at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday, van der Flier will pick up his 145th provincial cap as a starter in today’s United Rugby Championship meeting with Benetton at Stadio Comunale di Monigo in Treviso (kick-off 5.15pm Irish time).
This Italians have accumulated one draw and one defeat from their two games to date in the current term, but after a 2023/24 campaign that saw them reaching the latter stages of both of the URC and the European Challenge Cup, van der Flier recognises that Leinster will need to be on high alert against Benetton this evening.
“It’s always a tough game over there, I’ve played there a few times now. They’re a quality team. Even looking back the last few years, they were in a Challenge Cup semi-final last year and a quarter-final in the URC. They’ve been brilliant,” van der Flier added.
“They’ve had some performances I’ve watched where they could pretty much have beaten anyone. Then I suppose it’s building the consistency of winning every week, but they’ve been really good. They will be a big challenge for sure this weekend.”