“When you wear the jersey now, there’s more pressure on you to do it justice” – Rob Kearney

Sean O’Brien finishes his round of interviews and heads into an unoccupied office at Bearing point’s Dublin headquarters to change out of his Leinster top and into something a little less conspicuous.

About a half an hour beforehand, he had been out on a rooftop terrace with Rob Kearney and Robbie Henshaw, posing for pictures with an inflatable light-bulb. He steps into the conference room for a meet-and-greet before being freed up to head back to Carlow and an afternoon round of clay-pigeon shooting and mucking in on the farm.

Rugby players have been professional for over two decades and, in Ireland at least, it still retains much of its amateur charm.

I share a lift down with Kearney and, when we’re out on the street, wish him luck for the season. He’s off to meet Eoin Reddan for lunch.

I’m sure the thought won’t cross Kearney’s mind when he’s lunching with ‘Redser’, but between them they have SIX Six Nations titles (including two Grand Slams), SEVEN European Cups, SIX PRO12/14 titles, TWO Challenge Cups, a Premiership title and a Lions Test Series victory.

Whatever they were having, one hopes they got some sort of discount.

No.15

Kearney enters the 2018/19 season – his 14th as a pro – as Leinster and Ireland’s first choice fullback.

That has been the case for a while now but last season was the most sedate and hassle-free he has enjoyed in over five years. Around 2012/13 he started picking up hamstring tweaks and tears. He was a frequent visitor to the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry and was trying to find a solution to an issue that was threatening to cut short his career and damage his legacy.

After missing out on selections for his third straight Lions Tour, in the summer of 2017, Kearney had a decent run at pre-season and looked sharp in Leinster’s early games. Then his hamstring went again.

I spoke to him about getting to the bottom of his injury issues and hanging onto that 15 jersey during a Bank of Ireland shindig down at Carlow RFC, last September. Kearney said, “I’ve still been able to hold onto the national jersey and the provincial jersey when I’ve been fit.”

“My perception that I can still do it is very strong in my own head,” he added.

“Maybe amongst some elements of the media and some supporters, they may question it. But in my own head, I knew I was more than capable of doing it. It was just nice to be able to showcase it on the big stage.”

“[Getting written off] is frustrating but it’s the culture that we’re in. If you’ve got a player that’s been around a long time, I think people can sometimes… not get little sick of it but they want to see the new faces and a bit of youth coming through.

“When you hit the other side of 30, you’re probably seen as a player on his way out, as opposed to coming up through the ranks. You get away with it in your early 20s as people are calling on you to get in. I was on the good side of it 10 years back so I suppose I’m on the other side of it now too.”

It was typical forthright and honest from the Cooley native. He returned back from that short spell on the sidelines and had one of his best seasons in some time.

The challengers for his position – Andrew Conway, Tiernan O’Halloran, Jared Payne, Simon Zebo, Jordan Larmour – melted away and we were left with what we’ve been fortunate to have, for Ireland, this past decade. He has not been perfect – and he has not scored a try for province or country since September 2016 – but fans are beginning to appreciate how Leinster and Ireland function better when the 33-year-old is dialled in.

‘Just borrowing the jersey’

Back at Bearing Point, 11 months on from that chat in Carlow, Kearney laments Manchester United’s poor start to the season under Jose Mourinho before the interview gets underway. He is asked about Joey Carbery’s move to Munster and if the All Blacks are beatable (his answer: “Very… ish!”) before I bring him back to his comments from last season.

Asked if it felt good not seeing his name or position up for debate before big team announcements, Kearney smiles.

“It was nice, for a change!

“Listen, you never own a jersey. I’m not sure if I said exactly, ‘That number 15 jersey is mine’ but you borrow it for the weekend, effectively. And especially coming into Leinster now and the squad of players we have – 54 guys playing last year – a lot of people wear that jersey throughout the season. So, when you do wear it, there’s more pressure on you to do it justice.

“Last year, for me, was particularly pleasing. We played so many games and I was injury free. I got a great run. When you’re fit and you get a great run of games, obviously your form is going to pick up too. More of the same would be nice.”

A few more questions – on aerial contests, Carbery again and Felipe Contepomi – and Kearney is ready to move on. Print huddle next and then a chat with RTE.

He will be fed into Leinster’s team in week two or three of the Guinness PRO14 and season number 14 will officially begin. Another season doing his job and staying out of those speculative selection debates and he will be close to a third World Cup as Ireland’s 15.

Of all his achievements, that feat would almost please him most.

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