“In the winter-time you’d play rugby and in the summer, well, hurling was my favourite sport.”
Tadhg Furlong is a proud son of Wexford and still follows his county’s hurling and footballing exploits.
He played GAA for his local club, Horeswood, and at his school, Good Counsel, but demurs when it is suggested that he could have been an inter-county star.
“I would’ve messed around in Wexford underage teams but my body shape, I don’t think, would have been suited to it,” he tells us.
Hear Tadhg discuss the small ball, oval ball and football with Ivan Yates, Banty, Davy and more. Talbot Hotel Stillorgan, Monday 8th May. pic.twitter.com/eAnAnjVqmy
— Wexford Supporters (@wexfordindublin) April 28, 2017
Luckily, for fans of Leinster and Ireland, Furlong’s body shape and undoubted talents have lent themselves to him becoming one of rugby’s best tight-head props.
He is friends with Matthew O’Hanlon, the current Wexford captain, and he still has ‘good ties to the hurling’. He loves the Davy Fitzgerald revolution and notes how ‘back home is buzzing’ about the hurlers.
“It’s brilliant for a county like Wexford, that is steeped in the traditions of hurling, and the excitement levels that build around the county when the hurlers are going well is massive. You can definitely see people going around with an extra bit of pep in their step.”
One player that is flying it for Wexford is Lee Chin.
The Faythe Harriers clubman has been a key player for Wexford in recent years but the past 18 months have seen his performance levels rise and rise again. Part of it may be down to the extra time and effort Chin is putting into his game.
“Well at the moment I’m at home, I’m not working. I’m happy to be doing what I’m doing at the moment, trying to live as much as a professional lifestyle as I possibly can. I’m enjoying it,”
Rugby was an amateur pursuit up until August 1995 and players such as Mick Galwey, Denis Hickie, Alan Quinlan and Shane Byrne would have played for free until money and contracts arrived. Furlong is part of a generation of fully professional rugby players. He respects Chin’s decision as he seeks to emulate that pro lifestyle to benefit his game.
“I’d see Lee around, and the first thing that strikes you is how athletic and physical a specimen of a man he is. And you see that out on a hurling pitch.
“Lee is a very marketable fella as well and he’s trying to be at the top of his game as much as he can. Fair play to him and you can definitely see the rewards for him when he’s on the pitch.”
Chin may yet be the pioneer that makes the sport of hurling, and all the coverage and endorsements that come with it, work for him.
To the eyes of Furlong, and many others across the country, more power to him.
Ireland rugby star Tadhg Furlong was speaking at a Vodafone event to remind fans that we are all part of the #TeamOfUs as Ireland face Wales in the upcoming Natwest 6 Nations fixture on February 24 in the Aviva Stadium.
Vodafone knows the team extends beyond the 15 players to include their support network of coaches, family, friends, backroom staff and of course the 6 million fans on the island of Ireland. Visit the Vodafone Ireland Facebook page for all the latest #TeamOfUs news.
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