Craig Casey ‘gutted' to miss out on Lions selection but focusing on avoiding ‘inconceivable' Munster failure
CRAIG CASEY is putting his Lions snub behind him to make sure Munster do not miss out on the Champions Cup next year.
Thomond Park ace Casey was not one of the 38 chosen for this year's Australia tour, with
After missing this year's Six Nations campaign with a knee injury,
And although the Limerick native knew his chances of making the squad for the ten-game tour — which begins on June 20 in the Aviva with a Test against Argentina — were slim, he admitted that not hearing his name called out still hurt.
He said: 'I definitely wanted to be there. I am gutted to be honest.
"You're waiting, hoping for your name to be called out, and then it went straight to Elliot Daly, that's when you know because of the alphabet.'
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Casey also said he watched the squad announcement alone out of choice.
He revealed: 'I was actually with all the lads, we had just finished the captain's run and we were out for lunch.
'I was like, 'Nah, I'm rushing home'. They were like, 'Ah, stay'. I was like, 'Not a hope am I watching it with all ye dopes!'
'My parents and my girlfriend were working, so I said I'd watch it in a room by myself. And then I stayed in that room by myself for 2½ hours after that!'
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The nature of rugby means that Casey may well be one injury away from a Lions reprieve.
But having seen his own hopes ruined by one, he would never wish for that.
Shocking moment enormous brawl breaks out in rubgy league after 'horrendous hit'
He said: 'I have just come off the back of an injury, so I wouldn't wish injury on any of the three scrum-halves that have been picked. They are really good players.
'I presume there will be a standby list at some stage but I have no idea how it works.
'I would like to think I'd be in contention if something did happen but again I'm probably not really in control of that.
'It's just about putting my best foot forward for Munster and being ready if something does happen.'
And that means beating Benetton on Friday to secure a URC play-off spot and Champions Cup qualification for next season.
Currently eighth in the table, a bonus point should be enough although nothing will be certain until all games are played.
No Munster team has ever missed on competing in Europe's premier club competition, and Casey is well aware of the high stakes.
He continued: 'Munster and the Heineken Cup and the Champions Cup, it's something — we have no choice — we have to be there to be honest.
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Pictured at the C11 Recovery partnership announcement with Munster Rugby at Thomond Park, Limerick
Credit: Inpho
'The pressure is on this weekend like we've all touched on here. It would be inconceivable not to be there.
'Our job is to win. Every time you put on a Munster jersey, the only thing you're thinking about is winning.
'So if we start thinking about the other games while we're on the pitch, it's going to go drastically wrong so we've got to think about what we need to do.'
IRISH brand C11 Recovery is proud to announce Munster Rugby's Craig Casey as the newest official ambassador for the global recovery company.
This partnership marks a key step in C11's continued growth as a leading provider of elite recovery equipment for athletes and organisations worldwide.
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He learned some emotional literacy, the starting point was realising that anger and rage are emotions, too. 'Anger is just an expression, it's a venting,' says Forde. 'It's someone just trying to say that they're either lonely or isolated or feeling separation, and it's a language we don't actually understand.' Forde then dug into what he was trying to articulate with his anger, eventually alighting on the power of shame. He dedicates a chapter of his book to his earliest encounter with shame, when his sister falls pregnant and breaks the habit of her lifetime by refusing to go to the shop for their grandmother, for fear of the whispers of the chattering neighbours. 'Shame is basically just the fear of judgment,' says Forde, who would go on to work in a sport in which careers are entirely the product of judgement. 'We're all a product of our circumstances and our environment,' he says, 'and then I find myself in football and what is football based off? Managers, coaches, peers, players, fans, press, media, television: everybody making judgments. 'My journey was to actually understand what I was actually dealing with, and what I was trying to break free from.' In the book, Forde delves into his relationship with his late father, who did not provide him with direct and positive judgements. Forde writes he was 'emotionally neglected', missing his father's approval. 'My father was my hero. He left me lonely,' writes Forde. While Forde's father didn't tell him directly of his pride, he could tell others of that pride in the local pub. Forde remembers getting slaps on the back from men around home, exclaiming, 'Jaysus, your father was delighted with ya!' 'During my career, yeah, if I do something great and I do something successful, that pat on the back might actually come,' says Forde. 'He probably did me a favour by not doing it! I'm only joking. It definitely played its part, in terms of, if I do well in my sport, I'll impress him.' Seeking the approval of surrogates in the realm of football was thus always going to be a thwarted exercise, and so certain criticisms were perceived as rejections, and were loaded with more meaning for Forde than was ever intended. Forde's inner game was to realise all of this. 'When I started to see that, I started to realise that my Dad was an amazing man,' says Forde. 'He did the best with what he had.' He recounts his final meeting with his father, as he lay in a hospital bed on St Enda's ward in Galway hospital. 'I said, 'Look Dad, when the light comes and the ancestors come, don't be afraid. You go. I want to thank you for everything you have done for me. You did your best.' He couldn't talk to me at the time, so he gave me a thumbs up. 'That moment allowed me [to have] no regret or remorse because I got to say what I had to say to my Dad. That's why I did this book, and why I began to change and transform. I didn't want to pass that down to my children. I can't protect them from everything, but I can give them a better start by communicating and being more open and transparent. 'I never heard my father say he was proud of me, but I am proud of him.' ********** Forde in action for West Ham in a pre-season friendly against Dagenham in 2003. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo In his book, Forde remembers a 2003 FA Cup tie with West Ham away to Manchester United. Forde was an unused substitute in a brutal 6-0 defeat, after which Gary Breen, who started at centre-half, stood up in the dressing room and said, 'I've no right to be in this team. I don't think I'm good enough to play at this level.' Breen had played and scored at a World Cup seven months earlier. Forde includes the moment as it was a rare moment of open vulnerability in a dressing room. 'It was true bravery in front of your peers,' writes Forde, as Breen 'held no shame that day.' This is not the typical stuff of dressing rooms, where each individual player is taught to believe they are a lion tamer, and the moment they show even the hint of weakness, they'll be eaten. This is a long-established environment, but not an especially healthy one. We turn back to the scene of Keane berating Forde from the sideline at Celtic Park. Forde made a mistake. Mistakes happen, and he didn't set out to make it. But in that moment, Forde perceived Keane's reaction not as a confrontational challenge not to repeat that mistake, but as a threat to his whole identity. It's an insight into the personal insecurity on which so much football is built. Forde had fought his whole career to play for Ireland, and now he feared it could be taken away. He saw threats everywhere. He was playing instead of Shay Given, but Given had recently started working with Keane at Aston Villa. Given is arguably Ireland's greatest goalkeeper, where Forde is 'only' playing at Millwall. Keane's maybe our greatest-ever player. Forde was named to start and did so, but before the game, the goalkeeper coach had taken the unusual step of warming up one of the reserve goalkeepers rather than the number one, as was custom. 'What does somebody do when their ego gets challenged, and their sense of identity?They go into fight mode,' says Forde. 'I didn't see it as a challenge. I saw that fundamentally as a threat. 'I am battling for my position, for my family, for a roof over my head, and I felt it being pulled away from me, brick-by-brick. It was a build-up, it was happening over time. 'I never felt that security. Maybe that was their style and fundamentally their style was not my style.' Forde also says his own ego prevented him from seeing it from Keane's side: he was under pressure to win, even moreso at Celtic Park as a former Celtic player and assistant to a former Celtic manager. Forde works as a performance coach now, and his clients include young footballers. He also spent some time on Stephen Kenny's staff with Ireland for emotional support. He says the modern game is changing now. After a 20-year revolution in physical preparation – led by the likes of Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson – he says the next 20 years will see a revolution in the mental side of the game. 'We are stepping into the next 20 years of the mind, and of understanding how the mind affects players and how they are affected by how coaches and managers and players are communicating, how they like to be motivated. 'I grew up in that generation that was motivated by fear. Now I look at my own children and the generation that's coming, they do not tolerate that. The generation now want to be inspired and motivated, that's what gives them momentum. They don't appreciate people who come to them with that aggressive approach. 'Going from being passive-aggressive to passive-assertive: that's really what a man is. Someone who will assertive themselves. There are many way to show bravery and courage on a football pitch. 'It's not about breaking legs and being a fucking tough man. They are the men who are afraid. It's those who can impose themselves on a game. Go and win a header, win a tackle, dive at someone's feet. It takes courage too to stand up and not tackle. It is all perception, and the perception of how the game is being played is being transformed.' Forde admits that writing a book was opening up to further judgement, but he has more than learned to deal with it. 'I'm secure physically. I'm secure mentally. I'm secure emotionally. I'm secure intellectually. What I believe about myself is true now. And what others think about me, is none of my business. That's called freedom.' Being the One by David Forde is published by Pathfinder Books and is available now For updates on book signing events, follow David Forde
