Gerry Thornleytalks to the unlikeliest member of Ireland's Six Nations squad with the soft Aussie twang
THE UNLIKELIEST member, by far, of Ireland’s Six Nations squad this week has been Tom Court. With his thin-rimmed reading glasses and soft Aussie twang, Court moved around the scrum of media and players last Tuesday unobtrusively yet diligently and helpfully – much like his persona in the Irish squad, apparently. And then there’s the matter of the uncapped 28-year-old not playing his first game until four years ago.
The management have been impressed with his attitude and when Declan Kidney named the 22 at a team meeting last Tuesday morning Court’s first cap was a step closer. Given the 10-hour time difference on the family farm in Toowwoomba in Queensland, Court just texted the news. “I think they’re a bit shell-shocked, to be honest,” says Court with a smile. “Since I’ve come over here it’s all been a bit surreal for them. It’s been a whirlwind last three or four years. I’m enjoying it, and I’m going to try and make it last for as long as possible.”
Court’s maternal grandfather, Patrick Carey, came from Limerick, and his grandmother from Castlecomer in Kilkenny, while his mother was born in England before they emigrated to Australia after the second World War. Growing up, Court and his family holidayed almost every Easter and summer in his grandparents’ home on the Sunshine Coast. Both have since passed on, but although his mother, Nora, was born in Burton-on-Trent and married to an Aussie, Barry, Court was always conscious of his Irish roots.
Sport and open-air activities were practically a daily part of life on the family farm two hours inland from Brisbane. Throwing things and athletics were usually to the forefront, though Court did play some rugby league at his school, Lowood High School.
From there he went to the Queensland Academy of Sport, where he completed a bachelor of science – majoring in psychology – and also took up rowing, but the 5am starts didn’t appeal to him, and he returned to the shot putt. He was Australian Universities champion for three years and competed in the 2002 Australian Trials for the Athens Olympics before a medical examination revealed he had high blood pressure. “The doc said it could be treated with medication but I didn’t want to go on medication at 24. So, in the gym where I used to train there were flyers for sixth grade rugby at the University. I had one friend down there already and he said ‘you should come down for a run’.”
Court admits he was “a bit rough and ready” when it came to the fundamentals of scrummaging, “but it was just the fun of playing team sport again. It was good and it was competitive”. He progressed from the University’s sixth to first team that season, from where he played a couple of Queensland A games off the bench. To speed up his development he spent three months during 2005 with Manawatu and appeared off the bench in the Reds’ opening three Super 14 games of 2006 against the Crusaders, Blues and Waratahs.
“But if you played four games they had to give you a full contract, so they said ‘look, you can play Queensland A for the rest of this season anyway’. But my agent had been speaking with the IRFU and he said that Ulster were keen to get me over, so that’s pretty much it.”
Pitched into the 2006 Churchill Cup, he admits his scrummaging technique struggled in his first season, at the end of which he took up Ulster’s suggestion to go on loan with Pertemps Bees in the English Division One. But last season he was a forgotten man with Malone until Matt Williams came along.
“He’s very open and gives good advice. I asked him if there was any chance and said ‘I think I’ve really improved’. I played a few A games and he seemed happy enough and said; ‘okay, we’ll give you a chance’.”
Court’s first game back under Williams was against the Scarlets in Ravenhill less than a year ago. “I was very nervous but I was also as pumped up as I’ve ever been because I still hadn’t re-signed, so I was pretty much playing for a contract.”
Williams was taken aback by Court’s natural fitness and strength, and given Brendon Botha’s arrival, Reggie Corrigan helped to convert Court into a loosehead, without which, Court admits, he could not have done it.
“The strength and the power are natural things. From the shot putt they were already there. It’s always been the technical side of things in the game that matters, and that’s one thing, especially this season, that’s really come on. The defence has really come on well too, working with Peter Sharp at Ulster, and I really feel a confidence there now.
“I’m still surprised that it’s all happened and fallen into place so quickly, but I hope this can be a stepping stone to really pushing on in the Irish set-up. Obviously these guys who are starting have won Heineken Cups and Triple Crowns and have nearly a couple of hundred caps between them, so that’s something to aspire to.
“The first step is being involved in the squad, the next step is being in the 22 and then when you get your chance, you gotta take it.”
