a day ago
'I feel so lucky. If this is my only World Cup I want to grab it with both hands'
NIAMH O'DOWD knew she'd enjoy playing rugby when she first signed up in college, but the path which has since unfolded has exceeded all expectations.
Starting out as a keen amatuer player who saw the game as a good social outlet, she's currently settling into the Ireland team hotel in England, preparing for the start of the team's Women's Rugby World Cup campaign, which begins next week.
'In school, I didn't play it at all,' O'Dowd explains.
'I used to play a bit of basketball, a bit of hockey, just a bit of everything in school, but nothing to any high level. Then when I moved up to Dublin for college, my older sister was playing in UCD and it sounded like great craic and I was like, 'Sure I'll join it as a social thing, get out of the library,' and I loved it.
O'Dowd arriving in London on Friday.
'And because I hadn't played a contact game before, I knew I'd love it, I had just never picked it up. Like I'm not a runner, I'm not a passer, it's the contact side of the game that I just love.'
O'Dowd had a talent for the game and crucially, was highly competitive. After learning the ropes in UCD O'Dowd started playing with Old Belvedere, a move which led her into Leinster and onto the Celtic Challenge. In her own words, 'it just snowballed.'
'For a long time getting the start with Belvo was a big aim for me and just getting minutes at AIL, so I was taking that very seriously, but when I got capped for Leinster that was when I was like, 'OK, it's not just a hobby.' I definitely remember we had training with our club, training with our provinces, and that's when I like had to give up my part-time job. That's probably when rugby started to take the front seat.'
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The Wexford native relished the contact side of the game, getting her kicks from hitting rucks and making tackles. As a high-workrate back rower things were going fine, but a conversation with former Ireland international Ailis Egan changed the trajectory of O'Dowd's rugby career.
'Oh God, I still remember it. I rocked down to training (with Old Belvedere) one Thursday and Ailish Egan just came up to me and was like, 'You're going to be a loosehead.'
There was a few tears now at the start. I remember I went down to Ballincollig, that was my first game in the front row and I absolutely hated it.
I had just gone from being carefree, running around doing what I wanted, no responsibility, to every time there's a knock on – 'Oh my God, I have to do this scrum now.' I had no idea what I was doing.
'It was a very steep learning curve but it's been the best thing ever for me. I'm so glad they kind of forced my hand in that way because I'd probably still be playing at club if they hadn't, so I'm very grateful.'
O'Dowd only became a regular in the Ireland team last autumn but has made a big impression over the last year. Now 25, she's been capped 17 times and was nominated for Women's 15s Players' Player of the Year at this year's Rugby Player Ireland Awards.
O'Dowd works on her scrummaging. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Yet there's still work to do. She admits she's still learning her craft when it comes to scrum time, with this year's Six Nations defeat to England a notably challenging afternoon. By her own admission she's not the most physically imposing loosehead, but the aim is to improve the scrummaging work while continuing to make her presence felt around the pitch.
'Because I'm that bit smaller scrums take a bit more effort for me, so I really realised 'God I need to get fitter' because you have to put so much energy into each scrum and then go and actually play a game of rugby as well. It's a lot of hard work (playing in the front row). You're lifting in every single lineout, you're in every single maul. There isn't any let up.'
As rugby became an increasingly central part of her life, other pursuits had to go on hold. O'Dowd, who grew up in farming family near Gorey, is studying veterinary in UCD but admits she expects to be completing her final year of studies for 'probably another year or two.'
It can wait. Her rise from enthusiastic amatuer to Ireland international has been a great source of pride to those closest to her. O'Dowd's parents will make the journey over to support their daughter in England, while her grandparents will be watching on from home. For a pre-World Cup portrait released this week, O'Dowd brought along a picture of her Cork-based grandparents.
'My grandparents, they're honestly like my second parents,' O'Dowd explains.
O'Dowd with a photograph of her grandparents. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
'They live down in Cork so growing up I would have spent any Easter holidays, summer holidays we'd go down to Cork for a few weeks and they'd absolutely spoil us.
'They can't really go to many games now, but they love watching it on TV and you can just tell how proud they are. Even though they can't really go to games, anytime the games are televised they just love watching it and they just love it.
'And then my parents are obviously just delighted for me, like everyone's here, they're just buzzing.'
O'Dowd herself is looking forward to the experience, knowing opportunities like this are there to be savoured.
'Honestly, I just feel so lucky to be going, so far everything has gone my way and I'm on the plane, so I just feel so lucky, so grateful and I'm very aware that nobody knows if you'll ever get another World Cup, they come around every four years and there's so much that can in the way like injuries, selection.
'So I just feel so lucky and if this is my only World Cup I want to grab it with both hands, really enjoy it and try to get the most out of myself.'
