Feeling no fear after school years on the rugby pitch

SPORTING PASSIONS MARK VAUGHAN: GAVIN CUMMISKEYhears why the Dublin forward, if he had the pick of any sport to play professionally, would prefer to play rugby

“When it came to supporting a team or a sport, it was rugby. I didn’t get to Cardiff but I have been there before and I’d follow Leinster. Not so much in the Magners League, but I’d try to get to the big Heineken Cup matches.

I’D BE more rugby-orientated than Gaelic games. A bigger fan that is, more for the viewing aspect rather than playing. If I was to play another sport it would be soccer, but if I have the choice of what I sit down and watch it would be the Six Nations or Heineken Cup matches.

This probably started by being in Willow Park (Blackrock College’s junior school) from a young age. I went to Loreto Dalkey for two years before that but I played rugby since I was seven until I was 15.

At JCT level I was on the seconds, well, I got dropped to the Bs so I quit after that. I was a fullback. In sixth year I played on the soccer team but might have been good enough for SCT if I had repeated my Leaving Cert in Blackrock, which I very nearly did. I might have got on the team at wing or maybe even fullback. I used to play outhalf as well but at the higher levels I struggled in that position. You have to be playing there consistently to really excel.

In sixth year I went back and played rugby for a while, on the thirds, which is really a collection of decent players who have not been playing all the way through school, but it helped my Gaelic game so I enjoyed it.

You can see it when you go back up to Crokes, it helps your handling skills but most notably you have no fear going in for a ball after playing rugby. The collision is never as brutal.

There are benefits going the other way as well. Just look at Rob Kearney, a Louth minor, he is probably the best fielder of the ball around. Shane Horgan, again, a Meath minor, is another you can see utilising his Gaelic football skills, most memorably for that try against England in Croke Park two years ago. Also Horgan gathering Andrew Trimble’s attempted chip-over in the recent Leinster-Ulster game. The skills they developed are a handy addition to their arsenal.

What school you went to doesn’t make that much of a difference to your sporting choices anymore. Take ’Rock. We are the school with the most representatives in the Crokes panel, I think. There are four starters this year that went to Blackrock – Mark Davoren, Cian O’Sullivan, Niall Corkery and myself, while Joe Mooney is the sub goalkeeper. It just shows how big it has become.

When I was younger I played soccer at a serious level when I joined St Joseph’s. The problem was committing to that level as I was playing other sports.

“After one or two games that season I decided training three nights a week in different sports wasn’t working. I played with Cabinteely and with Granada for a year as well. I went back every now and again but for a while it was the sport I took most seriously and I’ll always have what we achieved in sixth year when Blackrock won Leinster then the All-Ireland title [Vaughan was man of the match in both finals and earned a trial with the Ireland under-19s].

At under-16 I stopped playing club soccer as Kilmacud Crokes took over. I didn’t really know much about Gaelic, but there was a load of lads up in Cabinteely who also played for Crokes and when the league switched over from Saturdays to Sundays it clashed with the soccer fixtures so they all quit the team. I decided then to go up and join my friends.

But when it came to supporting a team or a sport, it was rugby. I didn’t get to Cardiff but I have been there before and I’d follow Leinster. Not so much in the Magners League, but I’d try to get to the big Heineken Cup matches. I was down at the Ulster match, just after we drew with Kerry, as Crokes received a presentation for winning the All-Ireland.

Having said all that, I would consider myself into all sports, really.

If I had my pick of any sport to play professionally? I think everybody would choose soccer, really, but I would prefer to play rugby. Having said that, the amount of work that goes into being a rugby player is unreal. Just look at the size of the guys.

Once you take two or three years out of it that’s it. You can’t go back like Gaelic players, like David Beggy, did when the sport was amateur.

Niall Corkery (Crokes player) went back to play under-20s up in Stradbrook with Blackrock and did so well that he was brought up to the firsts. He’s over 14 and a half stone and they wanted him to put on another two stone to play in the backrow. It’s not feasible now to go back and play at a top level.