TOM DALY’S FIRST taste of international camp didn’t go quite as he would have hoped, but the Connacht centre is certainly able to look on the bright side of what he feels was a hugely positive experience.

After an impressive season with Connacht, Daly was selected in an Ireland squad for the first time as Andy Farrell gathered an experimental group for the games against Japan and the USA back in July.

The Ireland head coach capped nine new players across those two fixtures, with Daly one of the unlucky few to miss out. Disappointing, of course, but when asked to reflect on his time in camp the former Leinster man only has good things to say.

“It was a dream come through, probably a dream I’ve had since I was a child,” Daly says.

“It was good for it to eventually become a reality, a bit longer than I would have liked and a bit longer than a lot of other players in the country.

The two weeks in there were class. I learned loads, definitely a higher standard than I have ever trained and played in before. Things just happened that little bit faster, training is just that bit more intense.

“I was disappointed not to get the cap in one of the games but I had a good chat with Faz and he said there were five games in the URC before the November squad is picked, so just put my best foot forward for Connacht and hopefully that might lead to inclusion in the November series.”

Even without getting onto the pitch, Daly feels the exposure to the Ireland environment will only serve to benefit his game this season.  

“I definitely learned a lot defensively, setting up off set-piece. I learnt a lot off Chris (Farrell) and Stu (McCloskey) and even (James) Humey who was in there as well, just stuff other provinces might do differently and maybe some stuff that I could bring in on how we defend here.

“And then just in attack, being involved in every phase, not try to wait for the ball to come to you, go looking for work and get on the ball as much as you can and be as loud and vocal as you to the forwards, directing them and being as confident as you on the pitch and being confident in your own ability.

“Just the speed and the intensity at this speed at things happen were probably the biggest change that I had seen from before.”

Following last Friday’s defeat to Cardiff, Daly has just four more games left in this block of United Rugby Championship fixtures to catch Farrell’s eye. 

“(It’s about) Starting regularly for Connacht, same as last year, and putting in some big performances. And having consistency, backing up big performances with another big performance. I think I bring a lot of energy, both sides of the ball, and just continue to do that.

“And maybe that kicking game is probably something I would have on other centres in Ireland and try to use that throughout games as well.

Just little bits like that, you have to play to your strengths and show your uniqueness. It’s obviously a pretty stacked position in Ireland and there’s plenty of lads banging on the door to get in there so, yeah, put my best foot forward in Connacht and if that leads to more international camps then that would be brilliant.

“If not, I’ll just work hard here and try to play well for Connacht.”

The format of the new URC league means Connacht face a difficult task if they are to secure Champions Cup qualification again this season. With that in mind, the need to make a fast start has been stressed by coaches and players alike in recent weeks, with the province hoping to get up and running on the table when they host the Bulls at the Sportsground on Friday. 

Jake White’s team suffered a heavy defeat to Leinster in their first run out, and Daly hopes Connacht can put their new “fast, relentless, adaptable” mantra to good use against the Pretoria outfit.

“Coming into this week, playing against a big South African side, we’ll be focusing on that fast rugby, trying to move that pack around and we saw against Leinster, I know the scoreline was one-sided in the end but they did cause Leinster some trouble.

“They’re definitely big, physical men and their back row in particular will cause trouble so I think this is the perfect game for us to show our new game plan and play a fast brand of rugby, play on top of them and at a quicker pace, that’s probably the plan going into this week.

“We worked very hard over the pre-season, they’re probably bigger man for man, they’ll have a few kilos on us so I’m sure that helps that when it comes into the later parts of the half, you’ll have that bit more energy, hopefully, and we’ll see that on Friday night.

“Hopefully they’ll tire quicker than us.”

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