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'Shaken and devastated' Tom Lynagh impresses in No 10 jersey for Reds
Tom Lynagh was “shaken and devastated” by the grim tragedy at his former school in Surrey just days before his first run-on role for the Queensland Reds.
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Young Lynagh may be building his rugby life in Australia but his connection to Epsom College and the school community he grew up with is close to his heart.
Lynagh woke in Brisbane a week ago to a series of messages in his old school chat group which found no sense in the murder of Epsom College Head Emma Pattison and daughter Lettie by alleged gunman and husband George.
“I was shocked just to think of the people involved and these things happening at a place where I’d been at boarding school for five years,” Lynagh said.
“I was pretty shaken and devastated. We’d walk past the Head’s house all the time because it is right by the First XV field where we spent so much time.”
Lynagh finished his schooling at Epsom College in 2021 before Pattison took on her role but the tragic event has reverberated through the close-knit school community he knows.
“I reached out to a few old mates and schoolteachers to offer support and prayers. Very sad,” Lynagh said.
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“Fortunately, I could put all that in a different compartment because there was a gap of a few days before the game to prepare properly.”
Lynagh, 19, made a positive impression in his first run-on role for the Reds to show he will be a valid option at No 10 in Super Rugby Pacific this season should injury strike top-choice James O’Connor or Lawson Creighton.
He earned more than 50 minutes at No 10 in the high-quality pre-season trial last Saturday night which the NSW Waratahs took 33-32 at the death.
His passing, communication, organisation of the backs, general kicking and goalkicking were all ticks after he caught the kick-off and confidently took the ball into contact.
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“I’ll take a lot from that game and the last few weeks of training in terms of confidence in my body,” the 83kg Lynagh said of the physical contest.
“At schoolboy level, you probably try to do a lot. At pro level, you trust in the guys around you. I had very experienced players inside and out so I was very aware of not trying to do everything myself.
“Starting really helped me. It was a big step forward playing in that first 20 minutes (of more intense rugby) than the final 20 when everyone is tired.
“I’d like to think I’m now physically ready for Super Rugby but it is still all about working hard at training and earning the chance should it come.”
The trial may have been played in a NSW country rugby hub, more than 500km from Sydney, but the Lynagh name travels.
Several older rugby fans congratulated the youngster after the game and mentioned they’d watched his father Michael Lynagh in his pomp in the 1990s when he was winning Tests for the Wallabies.
He received a supportive message on his phone from dad before kick-off.
“It was nice to see the message and replay the words over in my head during warm-ups,” Lynagh junior said.
“The advice was pretty good too, ‘Do the simple things right and listen to the experience around you. Back the calls you make and positive body language’.”
O’Connor would have played the trial if it had been the season-proper but has elected to pace his return from ankle surgery for Round One against the Hurricanes in Townsville on February 25.
The Reds may have lost the trial but the general vibe was very positive after the productive trial.
Inside centre Isaac Henry had an excellent game of punchy ball-running, a lovely offload as he fell to ignite a 60-metre team try and several booming kicks. No 8 Harry Wilson was all bustle and smart presence around the ball as he looks to regain favour at Wallabies level. Flanker Liam Wright seized several turnovers at the tackle.
Lynagh’s halfback Tate McDermott, a current Wallaby, saw the trial in the same light. “There were heaps of positives. Tommy was loud, he steered and controlled in attack really well and did what he was asked to do in spades,” McDermott said.
The Waratahs will also be delighted that new Wallaby backrower Langi Gleeson made the night’s most bone-crunching tackle to show the physical presence he will add to the pack this season.
Meanwhile, a neat Tane Edmed pass at the line to send a support runner away was the sort of flyhalf skill that spectator Eddie Jones will have noted in his notes as Wallabies coach.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments