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Bulked up Jordan Conroy given greenlight to keep 'big arms'
Ireland Sevens flyer Jordan Conroy – a try scorer at this weekend’s Dubai SVNS – has been permitted to retain his new, bulked-up physique by the Irish Sevens programme.
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Conroy was sporting his new look, more heavily muscled frame at the tournament – the first leg of the revamped HSBC SVNS competition format.
The Athlone native caught up with RugbyPass at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai following Ireland’s quarter-final loss to Fiji. Despite a bright start to the tournament, which included wins over Australia and Spain, they lost their final pool game to Argentina before falling on the second day to an inform Fiji. Fiji ran riot in the first half before Ireland fought bravely before losing 29-24.
“It just goes to show when you don’t have the ball, you can be in serious trouble. That’s just how the first half went, Fiji came out hot and firing and we were just kinda chasing the game,” said Conroy. “In the second half, we tried to turn it around. When we do have possession we are actually able to do things, it turned 180 on us and it kind of reflects the game of Sevens, as anything can happen at any moment.
“We kept at it, kept at it. Kept our cool… it was very unfortunate just to miss out by 5 points, which is a little frustrating as we came from 29 [points] behind. That’s the way that rugby goes.
After a long pre-season, Conroy has added an extra six kilos to his 6’2 frame, but it hasn’t slowed him down. Listed at just 78kg on the official HSBC SVNS website, the 29-year-old – who has been previously clocked at 10.3 metres a second on GPS – has in fact gone from 86kg when he first started playing Sevens to 92kg, and it’s muscle he’s added.
“Pre-season was definitely needed. This is the first time we’ve had a 10 to 11-week pre-season to prepare for a season. Last year and the year before you had the pandemic and we had LA and the World Cup in the summer and then Hong Kong in October, November. It was 11 tournaments in one year which was pretty exhausting.
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“I tend to put on a lot of muscle in the weights room, but I have kept certain speeds up so they said it was alright.
“It adds a different dynamic to my game. I can carry a lot stronger now.
“You kind of have to switch up your game. You kind of get figured out eventually if you’re on the circuit long enough. You can’t just run outside people now.
“I actually don’t know them [his current GPS sprinting stats], as we don’t get sent them,” said Conroy, who was recorded at 37-kph at the 2019 London Sevens. “I suppose when I first started I was 86kg, and I’m 92 now on a good day but on the series I’m 90kg. I’ve been able to keep the [GPS] numbers so I’m not too worried. That was the main focus.
“If need to slim down, I’ll slim down. If not, I’ll keep the big arms!”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
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