Leinster Rugby v Cardiff Blues

the Ireland camps are based, they’re about
200m away from each other, so the facilities
and how they operate are both directly
comparable.
“The training was quite professional and quite
similar to the sub-Academy.
“I was a midfielder. As a winger, there’s a
lot of crossover with general hand-eye coordination,
high balls, kicking and fitness, so it
was a good transition over to rugby. It seemed
to click well.”
He hasn’t always been out on the wing
though, that change came as he progressed
through the ranks in Blackrock College.
Having watched his older brother, Evin,
playing with the school, Comerford had it in
his head that he’d follow suit once he entered
the Williamstown institution.
And so he did. First, playing as a flanker, he
later transitioned to the backs where he settled
on the wing.
During his time with Blackrock, he scored the
only try in the 2016 Bank of Ireland Leinster
Schools Junior Cup final, an 8-3 win over archrivals
St Michael’s College at Energia Park.
At the same time he was dotting the ball down,
an awkward landing and the chasing pack
combined resulting in that broken wrist but he
refused to go to the hospital until he knew the
job was done.
“That was in the first 15 minutes, we’d a scrum
in the middle of the field. I managed to break
through and score a try, but in the process of
scoring the try, I also managed to give myself
a fracture in the wrist,” he reflects.
“I slid in weird and someone came in on my
back and I kept going over the ball and broke
my wrist doing it. We won 8-3 in the end so it
was worth it.
“I went back to the school and then went to
the hospital so I missed the team celebration
afterwards. I got back for the end of it but I
had to get it manipulated that day.”
“I was in a cast overnight, then had to get
surgery and was in the cast for another four
weeks. It wasn’t great!”
Rivals on that day and many since, he is
now working in Leinster alongside former
adversaries who have become teammates and
friends.
From The Ground Up | 88 | www.leinsterrugby.ie