Leinster Rugby v Cardiff Blues

Ireland coach Brian Ashton, eager to
stamp his authority, handed out five new
caps and the reward may have come too
soon against the ruthless All Blacks.
“There was a series of events that led
to my call up to be considered. It was
all surreal, even at training camp. Sure,
Denis Hickie was a school friend. But,
you were also standing beside Nick
Popplewell and Keith Wood, two players
you watched as a kid in short pants. It
was the strange mix of people you knew
well with legends of the game.
“As a 21-year-old, you were just taking it
all in, not realising it wouldn’t last forever.
I would never change anything about it
now. I’m glad it happened. I look back
on it with great memories, even though it
was a difficult day at Lansdowne Road.”
It would be the first and last time
McWeeney would play for his country.
Ultimately, he returned to Leinster where
he won 66 caps, playing for eight
seasons.
“I was there or thereabouts. I was
consistently playing for Leinster and for
Ireland ‘A’. I felt there was a possibility
for more international caps until around
2000 when I got a bad shoulder injury to
miss a large portion of my third season.”
At that stage, Gordon D’Arcy and Shane
Horgan came on the scene and began
to establish themselves. Matt Williams
came in and made positive changes.
But, from that point on, there were two
tiers at Leinster. He had a set of players
delivering for him and he stayed with
them.
The breakthrough just wouldn’t come for
Leinster.
“We had some really great days back
then. We probably celebrated the big
wins more than we should have,” said
McWeeney.
“From 2001, I wasn’t always involved
in the big games. The memories came
down to great personal performances. I
remember one in particular against the
Scarlets in Donnybrook when everything
went just right for me.”
To this day, Dave Quinlan, Peter Coyle,
Aidan McCullen, D’Arcy, Malcolm
O’Kelly and Liam Toland are the men
From The Ground Up | 64 | www.leinsterrugby.ie