Gerry Thornley talks to late call-up John Hayes whose work on the family farm has kept him physically active and ready for the Emerging Boks
WHEN JOHN Hayes received an SOS from the Lions, immediately one imagined he was on the family farm in Cappamore in Limerick, out in the fields and heaving some machinery around or taking the first cut of silage. Sure enough, he literally was. His mobile phone rang and he had to wipe his hands before answering the call from Louise Ramsey, the Lions’ operations manager.
Privately, the Munster and Irish managements might be mildly relieved the 35-year-old has been spared the rigours of the full tour and his father will be happy he’s done his bit.
“They’ve plenty of grass for a few weeks so they’ll be fine. I was just finished covering the silage pit. It’s a fact,” he says, laughing.
Having arrived on Saturday for his second Lions tour at least he had been kept physically active.
He’s not unduly concerned about a lay-off dating back to May 10th, Munster away to Cardiff in the Magners League. “Ah no. It was a bit of a lay-off but I did keep myself fairly right so I’m just hoping I’ll be fresh now more than anything.” And when it was suggested to him he was pulling cows over his shoulder, he joked: “I had to do that as well.”
To a degree, he needed a break and a rare summer off after a long, hard season anyway, albeit after playing 22-and-a-half games for Munster and Ireland in a well-managed season.
“I did, yeah. I was disappointed at first when I missed out (but) when I got the call the positive thing I tried to look on it was rest, sort of say ‘right, it’s gone’ and when I didn’t get the goal, just rest now, it’s a summer off and get a bit of break for a change because I’ve toured most years. But then when I got the chance to go there’s only two weeks left so I was delighted, jumped at it.”
He acknowledges it’s a big ask to go straight into the starting line-up against the hungry Emerging Boks, but says he felt fine in his first run-out yesterday.
Most likely this will be Hayes’ only outing, and his last in a Lions jersey, with a standby role in case anything happens to Adam Jones and Phil Vickery, and so he’s not of a mind to set goals in what is a relatively small window of opportunity. “Not really, no. I’m delighted to get a chance. There was a midweek match left so I was lucky there is one and delighted then to get a chance to play for the Lions again then. I’m not looking further than tomorrow night and see how it goes.”
Hayes felt some sympathy for what Phil Vickery was subjected to last Saturday at the Absa Stadium. He points out the scrum is a unit skill, and all eight have to work together. “The Springboks just got a big hit on and just kept it going. They didn’t pause for a second. They looked to keep going and obviously if the Emerging Boks scrummaged against them that’s what they’ll be trying to do as well, I’d say.”
How to combat this? “You just have to match it. If they’re hitting it and chasing the hit you just have to chase the hit as well, try not to let them get momentum.”
