Denis Leamy's finest hour, well 30 seconds, was against Georgia - One F in Foley

Irish Daily Mirror

17 hours ago

Denis Leamy, from way back in 2007, gets a free pass when it comes to playing rugby internationals against Georgia.The back-row had always been the bravest of the brave, his in-game ferocity only matched his intense desire to win.His intervention in Bordeaux at the 2007 Rugby World should be ranked with the great Irish individual contributions to a team, along with Packie Bonner's penalty save at Italia 90 and Christy O'Connor's 1989 Ryder Cup 2-iron to four feet at the 18th.At the time Ireland were hanging on to a precarious 14-10 lead in a match where Georgia had 60 percent of the possession and 70 percent of the territory.And defending their own line in the 78th minute finally caved under immense pressure. Georgia had crossed the Irish line and were celebrating wildly.Wayne Barnes, a referee who has taken more than his fair share of abuse for the way he has handled Ireland over the years (and he certainly didn't like the way Andrew Porter scrummaged) was unsure and went upstairs to the Argentinian TMO to call it.He did. No try. Leamy had got a hand between the ball and the turf. Relief all round. But it was something which would be forgotten all too quickly because Ireland were sailing Titanic-like towards a massive iceberg.Subsequent defeats to France and Argentina would mean the Eddie O'Sullivan-coached side did not make it past the pool stages; that 2007 squad remains the only Ireland side not to have emerged from the pool stages of a Rugby World Cup.Leamy's intervention was consigned to history, his being the sporting equivalent of able seamen Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee. They spotted the iceberg and rang the bridge 'Iceberg, right ahead!' but it didn't save the doomed enterprise.Leamy is traveling to Georgia and Portugal on the Ireland summer tour as assistant coach to Paul O'Connell's Head Coach role - and enjoying being reunited with his Munster 2006 and 2008 Heineken Cup winning colleague."Yeah, it's very exciting to be working with Paul again. He's carved out a hugely successful coaching career so to come in and work with him, he's been very good to us."He's given us clear guidelines in terms of what he wants from us as coaches coming in from the provinces and playing the Irish way and implementing that gameplan.'So, he's given us clear guidelines and he's been very helpful in just challenging us but also creating a very good atmosphere to work in.'"Paul's a natural leader, he's a brilliant leader. His presence alone is a great starting point. Look, he understand the game inside out, he has great knowledge and his way of imparting that knowledge with the players is hugely impressive.'It is a tour with challenges for Ireland as, for instance, they look to cope with having 16 players away on Lions duty.There are a further three significant players Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw and Will Connors unavailable through injury.
While, don't forget, there are another three Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy retiring with 376 caps between them - leaving casual observers wondering just who is traveling!The shorthand answer is Six Nations stars Stuart McCloskey, Jimmy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Jacob Stockdale, Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley, Ciaran Frawley and Craig Casey across the backs.Along with players such as Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson, Ryan Baird, Cormac Izuchukwu, Cian Prendergast and Nick Timoney in the forwards.Which, nonetheless, suggest the matchday unit could have a smattering of the 13 potential debutants being brought on the tour to play Georgia and Portugal.The Lelos are currently world-ranked no11, a spot attained last February and it is the fourth time in their history to have been this high alongside spells in 2016, 2019, 2025 and from where they have a chance to make the top 10 for the first time if they can beat Ireland.Now that's an incentive, and Ireland may find themselves in need of a hand-of-Leamy or two this Saturday.Meanwhile, the overarching feeling is that the squad is a bit light on second-rows with a general sense of relief that Tom Ahern has shaken off a tight hamstring and made the plane.Even if the Munsterman is to be used as a no6 it frees up players such as Baird, Izuchukwu and Cian Prendergast for second-row duty.Says Leamy: 'Yeah, Tom is fit and he's ready to go, he has progressed hugely over the last couple of years and he's put in some excellent performances for Munster so he's a guy we have high hopes for and absolutely, hopefully, he'll get game time and do really well. He's such a promising player, I've no doubt he can do that.'"Look, all the guys have kind of been mix and match in training, so all the guys have kind of jumped in and out in those (second/back-row) positions."The game is ever-changing and the type of second-row is changing and you see the likes of Tom and Izzy, Ryan Baird, these guys are such athletic specimens and they cover the ground so well, but that's what the game demands at the moment.'Leamy wouldn't be human if the sight of the Georgia jersey didn't bring back memories of 2007.But he wouldn't have been doing his job correctly if he were to equate the then novice outfit replete with mostly amateur backs to the current squad which has 18 players playing professionally in France and which includes sensational Lyon full-back David Niniashvili 'They're a very experienced Georgian team, a lot of them have played in World Cups. A huge amount of them play in the Top 14 so they're well accustomed to big games, being in tough environments."So it's a really good challenge for a young team and to go to Tbilisi, into a bit of a bearpit, it's going to be physical, it's going to be hot, it's everything we want to expose our young players to.'Ireland Men's Squad – Summer Tour 2025Player/Club/Province/CapsBacks (14): Shayne Bolton (Connacht)*, Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(captain)(18), Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(24), Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)*, Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(8), Hugh Gavin (Galwegians/Connacht)*, Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(19), Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)*, Dermot Kilgallon (Munster)*, Jimmy O'Brien (Naas/Leinster)(8), Tommy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)*, Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(7), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(8), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(38)
Forwards (18): Tom Ahern (Shannon/Munster)*, Jack Aungier (Lansdowne/Connacht)*, Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)(27), Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster)(2), Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)(6), Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster)(2), Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(2), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(1), Alex Kendellen (UCC/Munster)*, Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(4), Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)*, Michael Milne (UCD/Munster)*, Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)*, Tom O'Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(16), Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(4), Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley/Leinster)*, Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(2), Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster)(3), Scott Wilson (Queens University/Ulster)*
*denotes uncapped
IRELAND SUMMER TOUR SCHEDULESaturday, 5th July: Georgia v Ireland, Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi (kick off 9pm local time, 6pm Irish time);Saturday, 12th July: Portugal v Ireland, Estádio Nacional do Jamor, Lisbon (kick off 7pm local, same Irish time)Ireland Men's Squad – Summer Tour 2025, departing for Tbilisi on Wednesday, 2nd July.