THE FIRST THOUGHT that crossed Tom Farrell’s mind when this season’s URC fixtures were released, was “Oh f***.” 21 September, Thomond Park, Munster v Connacht. Farrell’s new team versus the club he had just left after seven years in Galway.
“There was a lot of nerves,” says Farrell, who delivered one of the highlight moments of that game with an audacious over the head offload, “but thankfully we pipped them in the end and that was satisfying.”
There was a lot swirling around Farrell’s head on the day. His first competitive fixture for Munster. His first home match at Thomond. His first game against the club that cut him loose just a few months beforehand.
At that point, life had been close to taking a different turn. Farrell first sensed “the writing was on the wall” around March of last season, when his Connacht teammates were being offered new deals and the end date of his own contract was looming into view.
“I found out around April time, but I kind of had an inkling at that stage I wasn’t going to be kept on anyway.
“It was a bit (tough to take), a small bit, but to be honest it’s professional sport and I’d seen the way contracts had been at Connacht over the years, a lot of established players had been released and let go and stuff like that.
“It wasn’t completely a shock, I was a little bit disappointed but I didn’t beat myself too much or let myself get down too much. I realised it’s pro sport, I moved on and I’ve landed on my feet here to be honest.
“I was close to going abroad. I was far enough advanced in terms of conversations, but the call came here and that put a spanner in the works and changed things pretty quickly.”
Farrell and his wife, Chloé, were excited about the prospect of a move abroad but when Munster came calling, the Dubliner saw it as “a no-brainer.”
Playing with one of the biggest clubs in Europe, the history behind it and success in recent seasons, it would be stupid not to.”
It wasn’t the first time Farrell had faced a big decision on his future.
Having learned his craft at Castleknock College and Coolmine RFC, Farrell represented Ireland at U19 and U20 level and spent three years in the Leinster Academy, but didn’t manage to make the step up to the province’s senior squad.
Other opportunities opened up. Farrell jumped on a plane and spent a short time with London Irish as injury cover before joining Bedford Blues, and before long, Connacht snapped him up as emergency injury cover during Pat Lam’s final season in charge. That short-term deal rolled into seven years. Farrell feels his early experiences in England offered him a different perspective on the possibilities within the game.
It probably just made me realise there’s more to rugby than the Irish circle, there’s other avenues to make it in the game and plenty more teams in Ireland, the UK and Europe.
“It’s not just… when you’re in the Irish system you can get bogged down about the IRFU, Irish rugby is so small and the circle is so intimate. You go abroad and you see there’s a lot more to it.
“At that stage it was perfect for me, because I was only young and I got a load of game-time. It was exactly what I needed instead of just being a number in the Academy.”
Yet as he settles into his fresh start at Munster, the IRFU and the bigger picture is very much on his mind. Farrell trained with Ireland squads during Joe Schmidt’s time in charge and has ambitions of playing his way into Andy Farrell’s thinking.
“I was in a couple of camps when I was younger with Joe. I’d only done one full season with Connacht and then I was into the Irish camp and I was probably a bit raw at that stage, didn’t understand the intensity needed for Test level. A couple of injuries then as well, in and around that time stalled me a bit.
“Definitely (still an ambition to play for Ireland), I wouldn’t rule it out. At the club I’m at I’m in the shop window every week, I know I’m a bit older than a lot of the young centres coming through, but if you’re playing consistently and regularly and playing good rugby I don’t see why not.”
This weekend the shop window moves to the biggest stage in Ireland, with Croke Park on course to sell out for Munster’s derby clash with Leinster – marking a record attendance for a URC game. The fixture will see Munster return to Drumcondra for the first time since 2009 but Farrell has experience of playing at the stadium – albeit in very different circumstances. He played Gaelic football for St Brigid’s Blanchardstown up to minor level, but his day out in Croke Park came during his school days.
“I was at St Brigid’s in Castleknock, I played there around 2005 in the Cumann na mBunscoil, across the pitch with the small goals. At that stage you think it’s everything, but it’ll be a bit more full this weekend.”
