IF YOU BREAK down Tadhg Furlong’s year out of the game, it was as much a result of bad timing as it was injury.

The Leinster and Ireland tighthead recently got back on the pitch after 11 months out of action, the first six months or so spanning the long lockdown which put the rugby season on hold last year.

When the sport came back in August Furlong was raring to go, only to be hit with a succession of injuries affecting his calf, hamstring and back.

The prop admits it’s been a frustrating time.

“Yeah, there were a few rough patches. Obviously lockdown hit and you are still playing away, but the toughest part was probably at the start (of the season) where you have short-termy ones (injuries) and you’re bursting to get back.

“After a while, especially for the knockout games, the Pro14 semi-final and final, Champions Cup quarter-final, that kind of stuff, where you really have the foot to the floor trying to get back and then it comes to a stage where it’s like ‘Look, we need to take a longer-term view on this.’

“During that, there was kind of a bit of acceptance that you need to spend a bit more time rehabbing with a longer-term view. Since that happened, it has been really good in terms of ironing out a few issues over the last few years.

“I wouldn’t have had a proper pre-season for probably three years, and at that point because you’re carrying niggles from the season before and you’re kind of, not putting band aids on it, but if you go back to the Lions tour (2017), I got surgery, then you’re carrying niggles into the following year.

“And then the following year, the first few weeks of pre-season have been eaten up by rehab and injury prevention stuff and you probably didn’t get the window to push on.

“So, it was a great window for me in terms of even just strength gains, etc.”

Furlong has come off the bench to feature against both Wales and France. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

At times, such a long period out of the game proved to be mentally draining.

“The first part was, because you’re still in that performance mindset where you want to go out on the pitch. You’re doing the rehab but everything is game specific, ‘I need to be doing this, I need to hit the ground running when I get back training.’

“When it goes into that longer-term picture, the more it was a holistic view… Where it’s like ‘I have a bit of time off here, I’ll go away about my work, rehab, nail it, but when I’m out of here, I’m out of here.’”

Wary of having so much extra time on his hands, the 28-year-old also used the enforced hiatus to look at other parts of his life. He recently passed his accountancy exams, but has another four years of study ahead of him. 

Tough tests await on the rugby pitch, too. In Furlong’s absence Andrew Porter has grown on the Test stage, doing enough to keep his returning Leinster team-mate out of the starting team for the opening round defeats to Wales and France.

Porter’s ability to last the full 80 minutes, as demonstrated against England in the autumn and more recently in Leinster’s win over Munster, is just one of many strings to his bow.

“It’s been very impressive. Ports is a very fit man,” Furlong continues. “He’s played a lot of rugby and a lot of minutes so it’s power to the man really.”

However a fit Furlong is still Ireland’s best tighthead, and the Leinster man is hoping to win the battle for the starting spot against Italy this weekend.

“There’s no point lying to you, I’ve only played what, 90/95 odd minutes of rugby since this game last year (England game in 2020 Six Nations). 

“So, it hasn’t been a whole lot of rugby but even the training load has been really good for me in terms of getting that six, seven weeks now of consistent training or robustness into the body, the sharpness from training. 

“So, I’m not sure how fully match fit I am yet but I think every week you get there you feel a little bit better.”

Furlong says he has also enjoyed the opportunity to work with Ireland’s new forwards coach Paul O’Connell, an Irish rugby legend who provided one of the more special moments in Furlong’s own international career.

“My first cap was Paulie’s last game in the Aviva,” he explains.

“He presented me with my jersey which was pretty cool. At that stage it was pretty cool to get your first jersey off Paul O’Connell.

“Paulie has been very good, I suppose he works hand in hand with the lineout callers, a lot more hands on than with me personally. Paulie knows what he wants and he drives it, he’s very clear cut. It’s been great to work with him.”