Leinster vs Ulster

had Italy and France standing in their
way of a Grand-Slam.
After overcoming injuries at the worst
possible times, unfortunately another
setback was just around the corner for
Hanan and his Irish teammates, but it
was one nobody had any control over.
Having finally established himself in an
Irish shirt, the 2020 U20’s Six Nations
was suspended as the Covid-19 situation
took hold and all rugby activity was
suspended.
As the season came to an abrupt halt,
Marcus Hanan found himself in limbo
and with no definite sense of what the
future held either.
“I was told at the end of that season that
I wasn’t getting an Academy contract
yet from Leinster as they needed to see
me play a bit more rugby, which was
fair enough given how much time I had
missed. So I was still in the Sub-Academy
in the gym in the Ken Wall Centre of
Excellence in Energia Park and doing
pitch sessions trying to stay ready.”
His perseverance and dedication paid
off and it didn’t take long for that call to
come.
“I was in the Centre of Excellence in
Donnybrook on the Tuesday. At that time,
I would train in the morning and then go
and work with my dad in the afternoons.
So I was working that day thinking I had
the Wednesday off.
“I got a call from Dave Fagan to say I
was to come down for the Senior squad
meeting. As soon as I walked in Leo just
said to me, ‘you’re training tomorrow in
the RDS. See you there.’
“I remember just thinking, ‘whoa, this is
heavy’!
“It was unbelievable though and the lads
were so sound from the time I joined
them. I remember Cian Healy and Peter
Dooley came up to me straight away, so
they made me feel really welcome.”
Having now sampled the professional
side of the game, Hanan was hoping for
more and just needed an opportunity to
show what he could do.
That chance came on December 12th,
2020 as Hanan was named to start
for Leinster ‘A’ against Connacht ‘A’ in
Energia Park.
“I knew that was a big game for me. I
knew I just had to go out and impress,”
says Hanan.
Leinster ‘A’ ran out 44-14 winners where
Hanan was joined by other now senior
players such as Dan Sheehan, David
Hawkshaw, Jamie Osborne and Jack
Dunne to name a few.
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