Ruddock brothers swap Butlin’s for assault on Japan

There is probably some long-standing rule among writers, journalists, and other word-managers that says: “When you start stealing from your own work, you’re in bad trouble.”

However, we unearthed a Mike Ruddock interview from 10 years past to recall how Ireland got hold of these half -Welsh brothers.

Ciarán and Rhys Ruddock retain traces of the north Gwent lilt, as their father hails from a small town called Blaina.

“Obviously, I’m biased here but they are level-headed guys with good values,” Mike happily told The Irish Times in 2009.

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Ruddock’s two sons are in Japan, made men at the World Cup; Ciarán as a strength and conditioning coach and Rhys as Ireland’s break-glass-in-case-of-emergency power forward.

He’ll be needed.

After a promising career cut short by a fall from a ladder aged just 26, Mike Ruddock made his way across the Irish Sea to first coach Bective Rangers – where he married a woman from Stillorgan named Bernadette Wymer – before becoming Leinster’s first fully professional coach in 1997.

Rhys was born in Dublin during that brief yet memorable Bective season. Mike took them back to Wales in 2000 and eventually the greatest coaching job imaginable, yet equally a poisoned chalice, came his way in 2004.

After leading Wales to their first grand slam in 27 years he parted company with the WRU, but when does a national coach ever get a clean getaway?

The boys remember that 2005 defeat of an Ireland team seeking to retain the Triple Crown.

“We were living in Swansea at the time so I was playing for Mumbles under 14s,” says Rhys, “and we were on tour to Butlin’s Minehead, which I think was a tour for the Dads more than us because there wasn’t much rugby around Minehead so I think we played one game with all the kids on the grass outside the pub in the Butlin’s.

“They were all in the pub watching the game and coming out every hour or so checking that we were alright but I remember going in for the end watching it and obviously brimming with pride for my Dad.”

It’s not easy being the son of the Wales coach.

Slagging and bullying

“I remember a bit of slagging and bullying from older kids coming up and being like ‘oh your Dad’s Welsh coach now, we’re going to be s**t.’ So, I remember feeling a bit of pressure and stress about everybody watching as it’s just Dad coaching, and maybe he’d get a bit of stick if it didn’t go well. I remember that and how well it went, and feeling a huge amount of pride.”

Ciarán: “I was there, it was absolutely incredible. Like Rhys said, just being so happy and proud for him to see all his hard work over so many years pay off.”

Following a stint with Worcester, Ruddock senior returned to Ireland – so his enormous offspring were lost to the Ospreys system – to coach the Ireland under-20s for four years. He still runs the show at Lansdowne FC.

Both played for the Ireland 20s in 2009 as exiles, a year before their old man took the job, so they were in the team that almost came to blows with the haka.

“Doing that and then getting beaten was my memory,” says Rhys of his first visit to Japan.

Ciarán: “I was captain that day because Pete [O’Mahony] was unable to play. As I was walking to the pitch the referee caught wind that we were going to do it and said we were not allowed to advance to the haka. I was like, ‘It’s way too far gone, we’ve got to do it!’

“It didn’t get us the result we wanted but in terms of experiences as a player it was unbelievable and to get the opportunity to play against New Zealand for the first time. And especially to do it with Rhys.

“One of our first memories was we were growing up, maybe six or seven, starting to get into rugby.”

Rhys: “Five.”

Ciarán: “Rhys started earlier but we started playing rugby, playing on the same team as me, two years younger and he was bullying everyone, so you knew he was probably had a good chance of being an international.”

They grew into Leinster men with Ciarán not making it far past the Academy but having an impressive club career with St Mary's.

“I was always more into the weights than the rugby.”

A false presumption is that the brothers failed to make the grade in Wales. In fact, Rhys was always mapped and while Ciarán didn’t make the under-16 and under-18 national squads, it led to him being selected by the Ireland under-19s after being spotted by John Hunter, the IRFU’s man in Britain at the time.

Convincing Rhys to choose green over red is partially down to an ankle injury that ruled him out of the Wales under-18 fixture with France.

It could so easily have gone the other way.