Adam Byrne looks to seize opportunity against Zebre

Adam Byrne

chuckles when asked whether he spent time at Manchester United soccer club. It’s not the first time that he’s heard the reference.

He gently clarifies that it is his young brother, Sam (20), who was whisked over to the United academy as a 16-year- old, but is now at Everton, where he plays for the Under-21 team. “Somewhere along the line it got a bit mixed up. My brother has the soccer talent in the family.”

There’s enough to go round. Adam’s first love was Gaelic football, playing for his local club Kill, in Kildare, and it was only at the urging of friends that he tried rugby at Naas CBS, and with the added bonus of the suggestion he might get out of a few classes, a new sporting passion was born.

He made his senior Leinster debut as an 18-year-old against Connacht in 2012, but had to wait until last month for a second appearance against the Newport Gwent Dragons.

He scored his first try in his third outing, a 52-0 win over Zebre at the RDS. On Sunday they face the Italian side again, this time at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi. The hiatus between senior caps was largely down to a badly broken leg and periodic muscle tears that scuppered his progress.

Honours

He accumulated underage representative honours, Leinster U-18, U-19, U-20,

Ireland

U-18 and U-20, while also featuring prominently for the Leinster A side over a couple of seasons in the British & Irish Cup.

During this time he squeezed in a degree in biomechanical engineering at UCD – he is hoping to study for a master's – while playing club rugby for the college; this by the tender age of 21. As if this wasn't an exhaustive enough list of accomplishments he has been a key player in the renaissance of the Ireland Sevens team. In June Byrne is likely to be a part of the Irish Sevens squad that heads to the Olympic Sevens Repechage qualifier in Monaco, the winner of which will claim the final place for Rio.

Ireland will almost be the rank outsiders – Tonga, Samoa, Canada and Russia have competed on the world circuit and are likely to dispute overall honours – but Byrne argues that the scratch squad has surprised in winning a couple of early tournaments, albeit at a lower level.

He is grateful for the diversity of rugby he’s enjoyed. “You have different coaches, different game plans with UCD, the [Leinster] A team, the senior team. Even from week to week there is a different focus. It’s great to have that variety and also be able to adapt to what the different coaches want.

“On the Sevens side, for me I would be on the ball a lot more. I have played prop sometimes, lifting in the lineout, so it’s a different story but that’s enjoyable. You have one chance to clean out a ruck, you have a lot of space to cover in defence, one-on-one tackling and every pass is a long pass. Coming back to 15s those skills transfer over.”

Impress

The priority now though is the match against Zebre, an opportunity to impress the coaching staff and repay the help he’s received from Leinster captain,

Isa Nacewa

and

Zane Kirchner

in enhancing his development.

“Isa is easy to talk to, Zane [Kirchner] as well, particularly on the pitch where Zane would do a lot of talking. The last couple of games he [Kirchner] helped me out hugely in the backfield. Isa does have that experience and he is eager to help the younger lads.”

The tuition seems to be going just fine.