Players and coaches on what makes Gary Keegan such an important part of the Ireland setup.
Ciarán Kennedy THERE’S 81 minutes and 15 seconds on the clock as France winger Ethan Dumortier spills the ball forward. Wayne Barnes sounds his whistle and the Aviva erupts to celebrate Ireland’s 32-19 defeat of France.
Keegan, who grew up in the shadow of Croke Park, had tried and tested a number of career paths before some of his friends had even finished school. Keegan expects the athletes he links up with to work hard. He doesn’t sell himself as a sports psychologist, preferring to be viewed as an “expert in performance.” He isn’t overly keen on the ready use of the word “culture” in sport, preferring to view teams and systems as environments that need to be “cultivated.
In his autobiography, The Hill, Bernard Brogan recalled some of Keegan’s work with that Dublin squad, writing “I can hardly think of a session where he didn’t hit the mark.” In that 2020 Sunday Times interview, Keegan revealed he never saw external pressure around the ‘five-in-a-row’ as an elephant in the room. “The elephant was the noise that was starting to infiltrate,” he told Denis Walsh. “‘Is that a factor? Is that making us tighten up?’”
That’s something he’s pushed me to be consistent with it, visualisation as well. Trying to be present. You might see us doing the breath work , taking a couple of deep breaths, that’s come from him as well. Trying to get ourselves back to neutral.” That work has helped the players in how they handle setbacks on the pitch. Against France, Ireland were ripped apart by a sublime move, started and finished by Damian Penaud to put the visitors 13-7 up midway through the first half.
“He’s obviously studied the mind and how people think, and I think he’s had a pretty significant influence on this team as a whole.
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