Craig Gilroy’s Ireland breakthrough was one of the few highlights of Declan Kidney’s final 12 months at the international helm.
The Ulster winger forced his way into the Test picture in November 2012 when he raced in a hat-trick in a non-cap match against Fiji at Thomond Park. Kidney included him on the win for Ireland’s next match against Argentina and was rewarded with another try.
Gilroy started the 2013 Six Nations campaign and registered one try, against Scotland, in four matches. His last outing in the green jersey, however, was the defeat to Italy in Rome. Ireland have had two coaches – Les Kiss and Joe Schmidt – since then, almost toppled the All Blacks, won the 2014 Six Nations, toured Argentina and beat South Africa.
‘(Missing out) can be tough at times,’ Gilroy admits, ‘but that is just rugby for you. You just have to keep at it and keep the head on, keep working hard and eventually an opportunity will come around again.’ The 23-year-old showed his commitment to regain a place in the senior squad by touring with Emerging Ireland to Romania last summer.
Gilroy continues, ‘It’s a bit of a fresh start. At the same time I don’t want to forget any of the times in the past, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved every minute of it but it is a good opportunity for me to play again. I love putting on the jersey, playing in front of big crowds and bringing what I can give. Maybe that little bit of spark or that little bit of something else.’
Gilroy remarks that Schmidt brought the squad back down to earth sharply when they arrived back into camp and sat down for a Tuesday morning video session. ‘Obviously it was a fantastic win against the two times World Champions, but like the guys have been saying, we didn’t play to our best and have more to give.
‘It was great to get that win and put it to bed and the next task is Georgia and everyone is been nailed on and looking forward to that on Sunday.
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