Keenan’s World Cup focus only started at end of Six Nations
He made his senior international bow just over 12 months on from their quarter-final elimination at the 2019 edition of the tournament, but it was only within the past year that Hugo Keenan has allowed himself to get excited about playing for Ireland at the Rugby World Cup.
Following an impressive run of form for Leinster, Keenan was selected to start Ireland’s Six Nations Championship clash with Italy at the Aviva Stadium on October 24, 2020 – a fixture that was postponed for almost eight months because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He scored a brace of tries from the left-wing in that encounter, but has subsequently established himself as Andy Farrell’s first-choice full-back.
Although there were several occasions over the course of his 30 appearances to date under Farrell that Keenan could have focused his mind on the World Cup in France, he made sure not to look too far into the future.
“It was always for me about the next game. About the next series or competition, whether it was Leinster or Ireland. I was new to the team and it was all about staying in the team. Playing the best I could and keep putting my hand up, having success in each competition,” Keenan explained.
“The coaches started looking at it as a little pathway and stepping stone to the World Cup over the last year or two. In terms of [the 2022] Six Nations, into the New Zealand tour. Into November series, into [the 2023] Six Nations. Each was sort of a block working up to this and we weren’t talking about this at all.
“Would have had a small, tiny little eye on it back then and it has grown and grown. It’s only really now when the season is over that you’re really starting to focus on it. Get yourself right for it.”
While he was still attempting to find his feet at provincial level four years ago, Keenan’s former Ireland U20s team-mates James Ryan, Andrew Porter and Jacob Stockdale already had a Grand Slam to their name and went on to feature for the senior side at that autumn’s World Cup in Japan. Having played alongside this triumvirate in a World Rugby U20 Championship decider against England in 2016, this gave Keenan a sense that playing at this year’s finals was well within his reach.
“It definitely gives you confidence when you see lads that you’ve played with. The likes of Porter, Jacob, James, they were the trio that broke through early.
“Obviously they are and were top class players from an early age, but it certainly gives you the confidence that you can do it or potentially do it. It just can take a bit longer than others to get there and that was the case for me.”
Speaking from the Lansdowne Hotel in Dublin yesterday in his capacity as an Inishella ambassador, Keenan also spoke of his respect for former Munster fly-half Ben Healy in making the transition over to the Scottish national team.
A Six Nations Grand Slam winner with the Ireland U20s in 2019, Tipperary native Ben Healy made his debut for the Scots against Italy in March of this year and faces the same opposition tomorrow at Murrayfield in what will be a first start for his adopted country.
“He’s a good player. I’d say it was a tough decision for him to make, but he’s obviously just backing himself to make it over there and you have to respect it. He did well with Munster at the end of the year as well. It’s exciting for him,” Keenan added.