Josh van der Flier embracing senior status in Ireland squad
More than most, Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier understands how welcome it is for supporters to be back in the stands at the Aviva Stadium.
A try-scorer at home to Wales in the Six Nations Championship on February 8 of last year, the Leinster openside also touched down when spectators finally returned to the Lansdowne Road venue for last Saturday’s summer series win over Japan. A lot had changed in the 511 days that separated these two fixtures and van der Flier was glad to get a reminder of what life used to be like for a professional rugby player.
“It’s funny, people were asking me ‘it must feel like normal?’, but I think we’re so used to having no crowds that now it’s an incredible buzz again. It’s like being back, coming out of school and getting your first bit of Leinster senior experience with a crowd or at U20s,” van der Flier explained.
“The adrenaline rush you get and how much it helps you, I’d forgotten how helpful it is to have a crowd cheering you on. Another part of it is having family back as well. I think Hugo Keenan has played maybe 11 or 12 times and that was the first time his family were at an Irish game, which is incredible.”
A debutant at 22 years of age against England in February 2016, the Wicklow native now finds himself one of the more experienced figures in a squad that currently includes 12 uncapped players. As evidenced by his player-of-the-match display in the Japan game, this is a change the UCD graduate has embraced in recent weeks.
“Thinking back on when I came into the Irish set-up for the first time, I can remember how good the likes of Tommy O’Donnell, Sean O’Brien, and those lads were to me. Jamie Heaslip as well was great. All the back-rows who were there really helped me out.
“I feel a responsibility in a way to pass that on and try and help out the lads who have come in, because it can be tricky coming into a new environment. It’s nice to be in a position to be able to pass on some experience and help people out.”
For many observers, van der Flier has enjoyed the finest season of his career to date — from a provincial and an international standpoint. While he doesn’t entirely agree with this assessment, he is content with the standard of his game in advance of Ireland’s second summer series test against the USA in the Aviva on Saturday (kick-off 7.15pm).
“The last few months have been pleasing, but then there were some difficult stages as well. Not playing that much in the Six Nations, I played three out of the five games. Obviously everyone wants to be playing all five. You can be quite hard on yourself as well. Overall it could have been better, but pleased with the way I’m going at the moment,” van der Flier added.