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'Look, it’s a unique job, unbelievable... I’ll miss it when it goes'
Jack Kelly is living the rugby dream, jetting into Dubai this week with James Topping’s Ireland sevens team for the start of an attractive season that will culminate in the HSBC SVNS Series finale in Madrid followed by an appearance at the Olympic Games in Paris next July.
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For Kelly, it’s quite the comeback story. Not all that long ago Leo Cullen had called the academy member into the Leinster HQ at UCD and told him they wouldn’t be renewing his contract.
No bother. Having made his sevens debut at Twickenham in 2019 while on the books at the Irish province he debuted for the previous year in the PRO16 and skippered their A team, he swiftly threw his lot in with the short format code and has thrived, now coupling his globe-trotting rugby activities with legal profession first steps in the real world.
He told RugbyPass how he is loving this dynamic. “I’ve joined a law firm this year, McCann FitzGerald, as a trainee. I’ll spend my next year and a half in there basically learning from different partners within the firm and then hopefully qualify.
“I’m playing here and then also working in there. It gives me an insight into both worlds. It’s definitely a different job. I joked with my boss when I came in on day one that it was the first day that I had worn trousers to work; I usually wear shorts to work every day.
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“Look, it’s a unique job, unbelievable. I absolutely love doing this and I love the travel and I love playing with my friends and I love how hard it is. I’ll miss it when it goes.”
Now 26 and set to fly onto Cape Town once the coming weekend’s circuit-opening tournament is complete in Dubai, the fascinating thing about Ireland’s current sevens prominence is that less than a decade ago they didn’t even have a team.
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Financial considerations meant that the IRFU had for quite some time abandoned its part-time sevens programme but David Nucifora made its rebirth part of his policy when he arrived as high performance boss.
The early years involved a myriad of backwater events far, far away from the glamour of HSBC tournaments, but they are now a core team, qualifying for the top table in 2019 and also reaching the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
That initial lack of profile meant that sevens was never on the teenage Kelly’s radar as an aspiring full-back on the up in 15s, progress that eventually led to Joe Schmidt inviting him to train with the Ireland senior squad for the 2016 November Test series and he went on to captain the U20s in their age-grade Six Nations the following spring.
“I joined the Leinster academy and for that period I was definitely looking to be a rugby 15s player and to play for Leinster and play for Ireland that way. When I got drafted in to play sevens I absolutely loved it.
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“You’re right, I hadn’t considered it as a pathway but once I joined the team I saw how much fun it was, the opportunity to go to an Olympics. They are things that have really grown in me over the last couple of years and now it’s the main focus of my life. It’s my main aspiration.”
Explain the attraction. “It’s good fun, it’s intense, it’s hard on the body but probably some of the best days of my life have been spent on the circuit. You’re travelling with your best friends and you get incredibly close over the week or the two weeks that you spend on your together.
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“It can be tough in being very demanding on the body, the tournaments are very tough and the training in-between then can be tough, and it’s unbelievable when it is going your way but it can be a very tough place to be when it’s not.”
The covid stoppage was especially challenging. Sevens is about touring the world, but it ground to a sudden halt. “It was a very different period for us,” Kelly recalled. “Sevens is travel and when the world shuts down and you can’t travel, it’s very hard to operate as a sevens programme.
“What we did was basically stripped the gym here in Dublin and whatever anyone could bring home they brought home and then we would often times link up on zoom meetings and do our own work when we could go for runs and that. We wouldn’t be running together but we would be putting our times in making sure we were staying in touch.
“To a certain degree it was kind of nice to having a bit of a break from what our normal training is. Some guys got very into cross-fit and some into road running. Every kept very fit, some people got even fitter, but it was very nice to final get back to a bit of normality and get back in training together and actually playing rugby. We did a lot of running but we’re not runners.”
That perseverance was eventually rewarded, Kelly in particular referencing the aftermath of last summer’s Olympics ticket-securing triumph in Poland. “The day after the tournament in Kkakow, ourselves, all our families and girlfriends rented a boat, we went out on the river together, had a couple of drinks, had a bit of as song and a dance which was quite special for us.
Let's get this party started! ?
The pools have been announced for the first stop on the brand new #HSBCSVNS?
#HSBCSVNSDXB | @Dubai7s pic.twitter.com/h7w69C0RsG
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) November 7, 2023
“Sometimes you play in places that are quite far away and our parents and family can’t travel with us. To be in Europe, to be in Krakow and to have our support come out and support us, it was great to spend a day with everyone who had spend so much time supporting us.
“We had a difficult path to the last Olympics – we qualified three weeks before in Monaco. It’s very nice to have that in the bag so early in the season to be able to focus on our first game in Paris,” said Kelly, quipping about tucket requests: “It’s competitive so far.
“The families and the girlfriends are incredibly close, the parents are very good at supporting us whenever they can. Some trips can be expensive so it’s not possible every time but they have all become great friends through the sevens programme and by extension we all just feel we are just a big family.”
Before Paris, the reimagined SVNS Series is set to commence in UAE and South Africa. “It’s different but not massively different. We know we still have to show up to win a pool stage, win a quarter-final. To us, not much has changed.
“I suppose there are less teams and the teams that you do play are of a higher standard because there are just 12 instead of 16. That way everyone in that 12-team tournament is a really competitive team that you have to be at your best to beat. So in terms of preparation for Paris that is exactly what we want. We want to be competing with the best teams week in and week out so it has given us the opportunity to do that.”
What does he make of Australia bringing in Michael Hooper and France courting Antoine Dupont? “I can understand why they want to get involved.
“Whether we come up against them soon or not I don’t know. I can understand their decision anyway. I suppose it does definitely grow our profile… and it’s great for us. We love the opportunity to play the best players we can play.”
- Click here for all the details about the coming weekend’s HSBC SVNS Series opener in Dubai
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments