JOSH VAN DER Flier has mixed feeling when he looks back on his summer experience touring with the Lions.
On one hand, he achieved a lifelong ambition of being picked to tour. On the other, he felt the crushing disappointment of not making the cut when it came to Test selection. The Leinster flanker featured five times in Australia, but when it came to the three Test games against the Wallabies, Andy Farrell favoured England’s Tom Curry for the number seven shirt.
“It was hard to take, definitely,” says Van der Flier.
“The goal was always to start in the Test matches. It was a funny one, because I remember afterwards there’s a lot of processing because obviously there was a lot time off, just thinking about things, because if you’d said as a child or pretty much any stage all the way up to the day they named the squad, if you were just picked on the squad and played a game, you’d be like ‘brilliant’.
“Just to get to do that, but then the goal was always to play in the Test matches, so yeah, it was definitely a bit of frustration with it. In fairness to Andy, I spoke to him each of the last three weeks and he’s very open and honest, just kind of said his opinion, and that’s all you want I suppose.
“It was a bit of frustration there, but it was was a mix, it was an unbelievable experience as well, obviously you’re a team at the end of the day and it was great to see the other lads do well and get the series win, so it was a cool experience, but it was obviously mixed emotions.
“He said it was kind of his gut feeling on it,” he continues, “on the balance of the back row and everything, so that was kind of how he felt about it.
“I’ve had chats, I’ve spoken to Faz and he’s given me things to work on and yeah, it’s exciting now, it’s great to be into the season and work on a few things and push forward. I feel very motivated, which is good.”
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When the stresses and frustrations that come with being a pro athlete come to the surface, Van der Flier likes to pick up his golf clubs.
“I play a little bit in the summer, and then I played yesterday, the day after the (Sharks) game. I like it, it’s good for recovery, playing a few holes. It’s my mental switch off away from everything. I kind of find if you play well, great. If you don’t, you come off really frustrated, but at least you’re frustrated at golf and not at whatever else is going on. So I enjoy it, it’s kind of nice. It’s competitive as well.
My wife asked me the other day, she was like, ‘what do you do to enjoy yourself? What do you do to switch off that’s not competitive?’ And I was like, PlayStation?”
The 32-year-old has chipped his handicap down to 4.4, the lowest it’s ever been. Yet he still felt the nerves when teeing off in the Irish Open Pro-Am last month, where he were joined by Johnny Sexton and Dan Sheehan at the K Club, and had a chance to meet Rory McIlroy.
Standing at the tee brought Van der Flier face to face with “a different kind of pressure.”
“It’s not like you’re in the adrenaline of a rugby match, you’re just passing, running, whatever. Whereas that’s just like, if you mess up, it’s very obvious.
“It was great fun, though. I kind of warmed into it after the first while, but I did an interview with Tommy Bowe for Ireland AM at the start. I was there watching that, and I was teeing off. I was like, ‘imagine doing this for a living’.
Van der Flier and Sexton at the Irish Open Pro-Am. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“Johnny has done it [before], obviously he’s used to the pressure, kicking and stuff, but he’d done a few Pro-Am rounds before, and he was brilliant. It didn’t seem to bother him too much.”
The new experiences keep on coming. Last weekend Van der Flier led Leinster as captain for the first time as the province toppled the Sharks at Aviva Stadium.
“It was more the unknown, I suppose, of not having done it before, but we kind of split it up into areas for the week,” he explains.
“We’d quite often have someone who would drive each area, so like Harry was doing the attack, Max Deegan was doing defence, Rónan Kelleher was on the breakdown and stuff. So they would be pitching in and stuff and were really good at that, really helpful with that.
“The last time I was captain of a team was sixth year, my cricket team.
“It hasn’t been something I’ve been looking to do. It’s obviously an incredible honor and it’s really great to do and if I was ever asked to do it, I’d be delighted to, but it was never something I was looking for.”
Van der Flier captained Leinster for the first time over the weekend. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
This weekend it’s a return to Croke Park for a URC interpro with Munster. Van der Flier is reminded of an interview ahead of a meeting with Munster in 2017, where he stated: “We don’t like them very much and they don’t really like us.” He remembers regretting the phrasing as soon as the words left his mouth.
“I can’t remember what I said but I didn’t mean it that way. Someone asked me was the rivalry dead or something, and I said something about us not liking them and they didn’t like us, or something like that.
“But yeah, it was probably a bit naive maybe, but I’ve such good friends there and the more you get to know people from other teams, it actually makes it even better because it’s like if you’re playing against one of your siblings in sport or something, it makes it even better to win or motivates you even more and it’s probably more fun as well.
“So all the Munster lads, they’re all a great bunch of lads, but whatever it is when they come together as a team and playing against Leinster, there’s just no need for motivation. It’s always a great game to be involved in.”
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Van der Flier on Lions 'mixed emotions' and leading Leinster as captain
JOSH VAN DER Flier has mixed feeling when he looks back on his summer experience touring with the Lions.
On one hand, he achieved a lifelong ambition of being picked to tour. On the other, he felt the crushing disappointment of not making the cut when it came to Test selection. The Leinster flanker featured five times in Australia, but when it came to the three Test games against the Wallabies, Andy Farrell favoured England’s Tom Curry for the number seven shirt.
“It was hard to take, definitely,” says Van der Flier.
“The goal was always to start in the Test matches. It was a funny one, because I remember afterwards there’s a lot of processing because obviously there was a lot time off, just thinking about things, because if you’d said as a child or pretty much any stage all the way up to the day they named the squad, if you were just picked on the squad and played a game, you’d be like ‘brilliant’.
“Just to get to do that, but then the goal was always to play in the Test matches, so yeah, it was definitely a bit of frustration with it. In fairness to Andy, I spoke to him each of the last three weeks and he’s very open and honest, just kind of said his opinion, and that’s all you want I suppose.
“It was a bit of frustration there, but it was was a mix, it was an unbelievable experience as well, obviously you’re a team at the end of the day and it was great to see the other lads do well and get the series win, so it was a cool experience, but it was obviously mixed emotions.
“He said it was kind of his gut feeling on it,” he continues, “on the balance of the back row and everything, so that was kind of how he felt about it.
“I’ve had chats, I’ve spoken to Faz and he’s given me things to work on and yeah, it’s exciting now, it’s great to be into the season and work on a few things and push forward. I feel very motivated, which is good.”
When the stresses and frustrations that come with being a pro athlete come to the surface, Van der Flier likes to pick up his golf clubs.
“I play a little bit in the summer, and then I played yesterday, the day after the (Sharks) game. I like it, it’s good for recovery, playing a few holes. It’s my mental switch off away from everything. I kind of find if you play well, great. If you don’t, you come off really frustrated, but at least you’re frustrated at golf and not at whatever else is going on. So I enjoy it, it’s kind of nice. It’s competitive as well.
The 32-year-old has chipped his handicap down to 4.4, the lowest it’s ever been. Yet he still felt the nerves when teeing off in the Irish Open Pro-Am last month, where he were joined by Johnny Sexton and Dan Sheehan at the K Club, and had a chance to meet Rory McIlroy.
Standing at the tee brought Van der Flier face to face with “a different kind of pressure.”
“It’s not like you’re in the adrenaline of a rugby match, you’re just passing, running, whatever. Whereas that’s just like, if you mess up, it’s very obvious.
“It was great fun, though. I kind of warmed into it after the first while, but I did an interview with Tommy Bowe for Ireland AM at the start. I was there watching that, and I was teeing off. I was like, ‘imagine doing this for a living’.
“Johnny has done it [before], obviously he’s used to the pressure, kicking and stuff, but he’d done a few Pro-Am rounds before, and he was brilliant. It didn’t seem to bother him too much.”
The new experiences keep on coming. Last weekend Van der Flier led Leinster as captain for the first time as the province toppled the Sharks at Aviva Stadium.
“It was more the unknown, I suppose, of not having done it before, but we kind of split it up into areas for the week,” he explains.
“We’d quite often have someone who would drive each area, so like Harry was doing the attack, Max Deegan was doing defence, Rónan Kelleher was on the breakdown and stuff. So they would be pitching in and stuff and were really good at that, really helpful with that.
“The last time I was captain of a team was sixth year, my cricket team.
“It hasn’t been something I’ve been looking to do. It’s obviously an incredible honor and it’s really great to do and if I was ever asked to do it, I’d be delighted to, but it was never something I was looking for.”
This weekend it’s a return to Croke Park for a URC interpro with Munster. Van der Flier is reminded of an interview ahead of a meeting with Munster in 2017, where he stated: “We don’t like them very much and they don’t really like us.” He remembers regretting the phrasing as soon as the words left his mouth.
“I can’t remember what I said but I didn’t mean it that way. Someone asked me was the rivalry dead or something, and I said something about us not liking them and they didn’t like us, or something like that.
“But yeah, it was probably a bit naive maybe, but I’ve such good friends there and the more you get to know people from other teams, it actually makes it even better because it’s like if you’re playing against one of your siblings in sport or something, it makes it even better to win or motivates you even more and it’s probably more fun as well.
“So all the Munster lads, they’re all a great bunch of lads, but whatever it is when they come together as a team and playing against Leinster, there’s just no need for motivation. It’s always a great game to be involved in.”
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Interview Josh Van der Flier Leinster Rugby URC