The road less travelled is a road nonetheless.
The past 12 months has seen a number of young players burst through into provincial and international reckoning.
Joe Schmidt will name his Ireland squad for next month’s Guinness Series soon enough and the likes of Jacob Stockdale, James Ryan, Kieran Treadwell, Andrew Porter and Joey Carbery could all feature.
Carbery, and his raw talent, aside, those young stars are all physical specimens. One look at them and you would think they were all destined to be rugby players. There is a lot of graft that goes into getting to where they are, and a bundle of hours spent in the gym.
Matty Rea could well be another name we hear a lot of over the course of this season. One glimpse of the Ballymena forward tells you he has the frame and physique for modern rugby.
Rea is someone who has taken a circuitous route to professional rugby. The No.8 was in with the Ulster Academy but struggled to kick on and grasp a place in the senior squad.
He dropped out of the Ulster set-up to concentrate on finding a career for himself elsewhere. However, club form saw Rea show up on the Ulster radar again and he already has five senior caps to his name this season. Ulster’s Head of Athletic Performance Jonny Davis told us:
“Matty Rea was in our academy programme and chose, at a point, to opt out because, you know, life moves on. If guys aren’t getting breaks… He came back in as a development player. He’s had a few starts now this season.”
Rea has impressed on his developmental contract – his second chance – while another Ballymena teammate is hoping to follow in his lead. His story should prove an inspiration to rugby hopefuls that are not pure gym rats. Davis added:
“We also have a player that came from the club system – Ballymena Rugby Club – Callum Patterson. He came into our programme on a three-month trial in Match of this year. Believe it or not, at the age of 24, Callum had not been in the gym. Ever. He hadn’t lifted a weight.
“So, we took a systematic approach with him and now he is one of our best trainers. If he keeps working hard, his chances will come. You look at the players ahead of him – they are international standard – but everyone will be rooting for Cal and that he gets a shot in a PRO14 game or whatever may come.”
As a centre, Patterson may be hoping the likes of Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall get called up for Ireland duty next month so he can get a look-in during their PRO14 games.
As if that wasn’t inspiration enough, Davis notes there is another player on the Ulster roster that made the most of his short-term contract. “You don’t have to look any further than Mike Ross’ cousin, Clive,” he said.
“Clive came in on a three-month trial and is now four seasons deep with Ulster. He is head down, work hard. He shows you what is possible.”
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