RUGBY: JEREMY LOUGHMAN INTERVIEW
Loughman enjoying his time in the Munster spotlight
He’s had to bide his time and work hard to earn his chance but Athy’s Jeremy Loughman showed with a recent man of the match performance against Ospreys in the Heineken Cup that he is ready to kick on and stake his claim for a regular starting place with Munster.
By Daire Walsh
AMIDST the fanfare surrounding Joey Carbery’s move to Munster on May 31 of last year, it was easy to forget about an important piece of business conducted by the southern province just 24 hours earlier.
Serving as the footnote to a press release concerning Jack O’Donoghue’s long-term absence through a knee ligament injury, it was confirmed that Jeremy Loughman had signed a one-year contract extension with Munster.
Given the status of both Carbery – like Loughman, a native of Athy – and O’Donoghue, it was perhaps understandable that this news slipped under the radar. Initially signed on a short-term deal in December 2017, Loughman made just two appearances off the bench for the remainder of the campaign.
Flash forward to the present day and it is readily apparent that tying Loughman down to a permanent contract has been one of Johann van Graan’s shrewdest moves as Munster head coach. Since this time last year, the 24-year-old has established himself as the main challenger to Ireland international Dave Kilcoyne.
With the man affectionately known as ‘Killer’ sidelined for the province’s Heineken Champions Cup opener away to Ospreys last Saturday week, Loughman was handed his first European start in the reds’ front-row.
He seized this opportunity with both hands – his first-half try proving to be one of many highlights in a man of the match performance. For Loughman, this display was the culmination of 12 months of hard graft.
“It’s unbelievable. I couldn’t have asked for a better year than I just had. Obviously with how it goes in rugby, the few injuries went my way and an opportunity came. I’ve worked so hard to give myself the best chance to take it when it has come up. Last year I put myself in a good spot and then this year I’ve really gone after it with everything I have,” Loughman explained.
“I was delighted for the performance on the weekend [before last] because it really just topped it all off. It was a good feeling for me to have all that year’s work go into that performance. It really showed me I’m able for it.
“Obviously I was nervous going into the game, it was my first start in Europe. A big one, but I couldn’t be happier with how it went. I was delighted to get the man of the match at the end to top it all off. It was a good day.”
While Loughman was the sole Kildare man within the ranks during his initial season in Munster, that all changed in the space of a few short months. In addition to the aforementioned Carbery, Eadestown’s Tadhg Beirne also made the move to Limerick in the summer of 2018 following a successful two-year stint at Scarlets.
Loughman and Carbery have enjoyed a long history together in the game – they were previously team-mates at Ardscoil na Trionoide, Blackrock College, UCD, Leinster and the Ireland U20s. Likewise, he previously spent time in the Leinster Academy with Beirne.
“I didn’t even know it [Carbery’s Munster switch] was happening and then it all started coming out. I was delighted to see him come down. Obviously I’d be best friends with him, growing up in Athy. I think there’s only two or three teams all the way up that we haven’t been on. He’s an unbelievable player and he gets that opportunity to show how good he is.
“When I was in my first year in the Academy, I think that was Tadhg’s last year of it. He had a hip injury and he wasn’t getting game time. I’d seen him playing in schools and he went over to Scarlets, I know how good a player he was. He was unbelievable.
“When he got his chance with Scarlets, he just showed everyone how good he was. He was a massive signing for Munster and you see how good he is around the pitch. At the breakdown he’s one of the best there is, I think.”
Though van Graan remains at the helm, there is a significant change to the coaching structure in Munster for the 2019/20 season. The summer departures of both Felix Jones and Jerry Flannery left considerable voids to fill, but the additions of Stephen Larkham and Graham Rowntree in their place were viewed as major coups for the province.
Whereas Larkham assumed his duties as Senior Coach for the tail end of pre-season, Rowntree didn’t become available until Georgia exited the World Cup in Japan. Despite acknowledging it was difficult to see Flannery stepping away from his role, Loughman is enjoying working under the new forwards coach.
“It was tough and obviously when I moved down he [Flannery] would have been one of my favourite players growing up. It was unbelievable to work with him. I learned a lot off him and he’s a great coach. When he was gone, it was a tough one to hear. It was a big thing for the club when he left, but he left us all in a good spot and Graham has come in now and picked it up.
“He’s just added something different, from a different perspective. I’ve been working with him closely to work on my game, because obviously he’s coached at every level. He’s coached at England, with the Lions. I try and pick his brain as much as I can on all parts of my game.”
Loughman is one of five players within the Munster squad to have previously earned a senior cap for arch rivals Leinster – the others being Carbery, Beirne, Andrew Conway and recent recruit Nick McCarthy.
The most experienced of this quintet is undoubtedly Conway, who has clocked up 119 appearances since transferring to the south in 2013. This move has paid rich dividends for Conway, who was one of the bright lights in Ireland’s ill-fated World Cup odyssey.
As Loughman contemplated the ramifications of going down a similar career path, it was his fellow Blackrock alum he had in mind.
“When I was thinking about the switch and the opportunity came up, that’s exactly someone I’d look at. I had seen that he took the risk. It was tough at the start and he came through. You can see how good it has gone for his career,” Loughman said of Conway.
“That was the same kind of prognosis I had when I sat down and chatted with my parents and people close to me. They just said, ‘you’ve got to take the chance’. I think it has been an unbelievable move and I’m delighted I did it.”
Loughman’s career is certainly going from strength-to-strength with last Saturday’s home affair against Racing 92 bringing him up to 30 appearances in a Munster shirt. A continuation of his current form could see him entering the frame for an international call-up and Loughman believes he is capable of stepping up to the next level if called upon.
“I played underage all the way up. I played U18 schools, U19s and U20s. I had that and now I’ve got a taste for playing professional rugby. Week in, week out. I’m loving it and now I’m playing in Europe. I’m looking forward to this weekend, this will be a real test for me and then obviously if I get an opportunity to break into the senior squad, I’d love that.
“Right now, I’ve really got to nail my place down here and then I think that will take care of itself. If I push Killer and just show I’m up there with him, I think that I can get myself a look in. I’ll take it one step at a time and really establish myself here at the moment. The goal is to get there as soon as I can and I’d love that.”
During his short time as a student in Blackrock – he moved there from nearby Ardscoil in fifth year – Loughman was left with some indelible memories. Loughman was a key component of Peter Smyth’s side as they achieved back-to-back Leinster Schools Senior Cup titles in 2013 and 2014.
After tasting success alongside a host of future stars (Garry Ringrose and Carbery being the most notable figures in those ‘Rock sides), Loughman is itching to claim silverware in the professional game.
“We [Munster] are aiming for everything. We want the Champions Cup, we want to win the PRO14. That’s the goal and we’re going to do everything we can to do that. We’re just focused on the task and the journey in hand. We’ve got take it one game at a time.
“For now we just focus on getting top of our pool, getting a home quarter-final, home semi-final and then the same in the PRO14. We know how good our home record is in Thomond Park. If we get that, we’d back ourselves against anyone then that will come to Thomond Park in those knockout games.”
Only time will tell on that front, but all the present signs point to it being an eventful 2020 for Loughman and Munster.