Ireland omissions 'still kill you inside'
By Nick Timoney's own admission, his last Ireland cap was "a long time ago now".The most consistent performer in an inconsistent Ulster team, the 29-year-old has found the Test game a tougher nut to crack.After making his debut for Andy Farrell's side against the USA in July 2021, the back row was a late inclusion for that November's Test against Argentina - so late, in fact, that he was sat in his house in Belfast on the morning of the game - and then started a year later against Fiji.Despite being in various squads over recent years, including touring parties to New Zealand and South Africa, he has not featured since that game three Autumns ago.Farrell has consistently selected three from Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan, Peter O'Mahony and Caelan Doris as his loose forward trio, with the odd man out providing impact off the bench.But with the former pair away with the British and Irish Lions, O'Mahony retired, and Doris injured, there are rare opportunities to impress for back row hopefuls in Test matches against Georgia on Saturday and Portugal a week later."I'd be lying if I said there weren't times where I was frustrated. I certainly have had times where I feel like I'm incredibly close to it, and I've felt like if I had a chance, I would've taken it and run with it," said Timoney. "I still feel that way, but at the same time, Irish Rugby's not in the business of just dishing out caps because you've had a good game. Like he [Farrell] is still picking the best four lads for the squad, and if those lads stay fit and are playing well the whole time, I mean that's just the way it goes."
The likes of Cian Prendergast, Gavin Coombes and Max Deegan are other back row options in a summer squad that will be led by Paul O'Connell with usual head coach Farrell on Lions duty. All have had their own struggles earning selection ahead of Ireland's established options despite impressing for their respective provinces. "It can be tough because, being a realist, you come into a lot of camps and you know that you're not necessarily top of the pecking order," Timoney continued."All the other lads are desperate to play, and then the game against England is opening the Six Nations or something like that and it still kills you inside a little bit every time you're not announced and you're not in the team."Ultimately, if you really value playing for Ireland enough, then there's no choice but to put more emphasis on getting better and working harder so that's just what I try to do."Now 29-years-old, Timoney says he will still "come into every single camp thinking this will be the one" when he makes his true international breakthrough."There's examples of it all over. There's the Deon Fouries of the world who are uncapped until 35 and [play] in a World Cup final," he added, citing the South African hooker who played 76 minutes off the bench when the Springboks won the World Cup in 2023.
While his only previous experience against Saturday's opponents came as a sevens international, Timoney is well familiar with at least one star of Georgia's past.As a youngster, he would regularly turn to YouTube for clips of the best back rows of the era. The likes of Sebastien Chabal, Sean O'Brien, David Wallace and Stephen Ferris provided regular viewing, but the rampaging Mamuka Gorgodze was a particular favourite."I have hours of Mamuka Gorgodze footage watched from when I was a kid. I used to watch a highlight video of his pretty much every week," said Timoney of the former Montpellier back row nicknamed 'Gorgodzilla'."Back in the day when you're a kid, as you would with loads of different rugby players that were in your position and you kind of looked up to, you'd look up some of their clips, their highlights, but there was a 10-minute compilation video of Mamuka Gorgodze playing a lot of European countries for Georgia, loads of clips from them playing Poland and Russia and Spain and stuff. "So I used to watch that a bit when I was younger. He was a bit of a tank."
'We know what's coming'
While the decidedly more nimble Davit Niniashvili is the current star of Georgian rugby, under former Leicester Tigers and Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill, Timoney expects a robust challenge in Tbilisi. "They're big, they're physical, they're passionate and you're not going to get an easy game against them," he said."We've seen that over the last number of years with lots of their performances, so we know what's coming."That sort of selfish desire to impress is going to be there a little bit with a lot of people, but channelling that into the battle that's going to come is key for us."
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