Star Wars of Lions v Australia awaits Josh van der Flier after long wait
It is written in the stars that Josh van der Flier's Lions debut will come against The Force.
The Wicklow man's family had a video player instead of TV channels when he was a kid and his watching options largely consisted of watching the Lions or Star Wars.
He didn't grow up to become a Jedi but the force is finally with the 32-year-old Leinster and Ireland star after he departed Dublin for Australia on Saturday with Andy Farrell's British and Irish Lions squad.
His debut is expected to play against the Western Force on Saturday, a moment that has been a long time coming for the 73-times capped Ireland star.
"Gosh, I always wanted to play (for the Lions)," he admitted. "I didn't really know that rugby was a job when I was younger, it probably wouldn't have been something I verbalized.
"But I used to watch an Irish game or a game on TV and then go out to the garden and pretend to be someone who played for Ireland or the Lions. It's probably the pinnacle. It's hard to compare with playing for your country but it is a very hard thing to do, so it's pretty cool."
When he wanted to watch the Lions when he was a child he popped across the road to his grandparents' house.
"I just have a vague memory of it, I would have been quite young," van der Flier recalled. 'I distinctly remember, I think it was 2005, we had a family video and we taped over it by mistake.
"It was Lions against New Zealand that year, we used to watch that over and over again. It was either that or Star Wars or something. So I ended up watching a lot of that 2005 Lions game.'
When Leinster finished training on the day of the squad announcement, van der Flier made a bee-line for home. "I didn't even bother showering, I was straight out the door because I didn't want to be there in front of loads of lads if guys didn't get picked or if I didn't," he recalled.
"So I just went home. My wife actually facetimed me so we watched it together. It was a long wait. Last time I had a vague memory of the announcement just popping up and that was it, this time it was like 30 minutes of TV before it got to it. I was sitting there sweating on the couch."
With a surname starting with 'v', the wait was even longer as he watched as back row after back row was named before announcer Ieuan Evans got to his one.
'You have a good idea of how squads are made up so you obviously need specialized lineout back rows, maybe one or two 7s," said van der Flier. "And then there were like four 8s and my name hadn't been called and you think 'oh no', but I made it in the end.'
The worry didn't end there, however. Van der Flier missed Leinster's URC semi-final with a hamstring issue, and was a doubt for the final but did start the victory over the Bulls.
"I never hurt my hamstring before, thankfully I've been good with muscle things, but it didn't feel too bad to be honest," he said. "I'd no reference point, it ended up being a small little thing - I got a knee in the back of it I think - but the unknown was still...I was hoping it was alright. Thankfully it was.
"People were asking me what the story is with tickets, wondering what my plans were and I was literally saying, 'I'm not even thinking about that until I'm finished (with Leinster)'. Winning the URC was brilliant, so the last few days I could go into camp and it was here. It was ignore it until it was there."
Van der Flier was then travelling reserve for the opening defeat to Argentina at the Aviva Stadium last Friday night but wasn't required to play. The Lions arrived in Perth around midday Irish time on Sunday.
They went straight into a busy schedule yesterday with a visit to Clottesloe and an aboriginal cultural experience in the form of a 'Welcome to Country' in Kings Park.
But had some time to take stock of his impressive journey when the Lions trained at the UCD Bowl last week. "It was incredible, we trained here on Tuesday and it was very cool coming out into the changing rooms," said van der Flier. "It's my first time properly here since playing here for UCD."
He played for the club in 2014 and '15. "It's very easy when things are going from one thing to the next to get used to where you're at," the flanker reflected.
"To be involved in the Lions is incredible and you come to the UCD changing rooms for the first time since a few years ago, it's special."
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