'There were tears... it wasn't the way I wanted to leave Munster'
Five weeks after he cleared his locker at Munster, Ian Keatley gets a lump in his throat thinking about his sudden exit after nearly eight years with the Irish province.
The long-serving out-half wasn’t supposed to say farewell until the end of the season. A two-year deal – starting next summer – was inked at Treviso last November, but out of the blue London Irish wanted him in England immediately to help fuel their promotion drive to the Premiership.
The unexpected invite meant the soon-to-be 32-year-old was out the door in Limerick far quicker than expected. Instead of months to properly say goodbye, he had minutes to voice a few emotional words following a difficult season where he tumbled from first-choice No10 to fifth in the pecking order.
“It all happened so quickly,” he told RugbyPass, reflecting on January 25 when he packed up his things at the province’s training centre. “I heard on Wednesday London Irish were interested. Thursday it was finalised and on the Friday I’d to go in. I did some weights and fitness in the morning, had a shower and then addressed the lads who were going to Dragons (for a Saturday match).
“I didn’t get to say goodbye to the Ireland lads who were away in camp. I sent them a message later. It was tough cleaning out… there was tears because it means so much. I gave quarter of my life to Munster Rugby and just to leave so quickly. To leave at any time is sad, but it was tough to put a few words together.
“I eventually got it out but even those words probably wouldn’t have done justice for what Munster Rugby has done for me and my family over the years. It wasn’t the way I wanted to leave, but I knew it was the right thing to do and that’s life.”
Keatley scored a try just two minutes into his London Irish debut and was at it again this weekend versus London Scottish, making up for time lost watching Munster from the stands.
Four short runs off the bench was all he had this term, inactivity at odds with his previous busy seven seasons. Joey Carbery’s arrival from Leinster turned his rugby career upside down, meaning Keatley’s last Munster start was the best-forgotten Champions Cup semi-final loss to Racing in Bordeaux last April.
Munster Rugby can confirm that out-half Ian Keatley will depart the province for Italian Guinness PRO14 side @BenettonRugby at the end of the season.
Full details > > https://t.co/U7sdeJ3etf pic.twitter.com/TwbAyrXudm
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) January 16, 2019
“For that to be my last start with Munster is a little bit upsetting. That’s professional sport, that’s the way it goes sometimes. I thought I would have got more of a chance with Munster this year, but that’s the way things go. I’d been in the Ireland squad, came on twice in November and was with them for the whole Six Nations. I played 26 times for Munster, starting 20 starting, and to go from that…”
He was never told straight out he was out of favour. Instead, he read between the lines and just got on with the disappointment like a seasoned pro. “I definitely would have talked to Johann (van Graan) and was told, ‘Yeah, I would get a chance.’ But Munster weren’t where they are now, top of the league and through to the (European) quarter-final.
“It was up in the air coming into December how the season was going to go and Johann has to look after Munster first. That’s his main thing. I said that to him, ‘Listen, your job is Munster first, not Ian Keatley. You do what you have to do.’ That’s just the way it went. I tried my best, but he did say to me I would get a chance. Maybe the whole moving-to-Treviso thing had an impact, I don’t know.
“If I was moving on at the end of the season he had to start thinking of his squad for next year and bringing through young players like Bill Johnston, a good young player. He probably felt, ‘Ian Keatley is going next year, I need to try out Bill a bit more.’ This is my 11th season in professional sport and I know how things go – I was more in a place to be able to accept it,” said Keatley, whose agent James Downey, a former Munster teammate, was to the fore at Esportif in brokering his Italian job and his short stint in London.
“It’s the good thing about sport, you see young players coming through. But the bad thing is when players have to be let go and there has to be a few tough conversations. It’s not an easy thing to do, they are not easy decisions, but like any job you have look after yourself, have to look after your family as you’re only in this career for a very short time.
“I had eight great years at Munster. That’s what I am grateful for and that’s what I will look back on more so than the last few months. I’ll look at the eight great years and where I came from, coming there from Connacht and how my game developed. I played in a lot more great games for Munster, great days I will cherish, and I will learn from the days that didn’t go well. That makes me a better person outside rugby. That’s what I’m taking from it.
“When you’re with one of the top clubs in the world like Munster you’re always going to have competition, always going to have players coming in and out. Did I mind Joey coming down? No, not at all.
“I want the club to reach the highest level and Joey was only going to help that scenario. I thought me and Joey would fight it out and I was hoping I’d be able to show what I can do, but I knew early on it wasn’t going to go that way.
“It wasn’t like I was training poorly or anything like that. Even the matches I played, I thought I played well enough when I came on. It would have been nice to have had the chance to start a match and put my best case forward. I’d 180 caps for Munster, 77 for Connacht. I have been blessed with not getting injured, so to not play much at all this season was a bit of a shock.
“Munster don’t want to say you’re down the pecking order because they want to keep you interested and keep you on your toes, but with the way the starts went I went from first to fifth choice. I knew from pre-season the way things were going. I knew it was going to be a difficult season.
“Although I knew wasn’t playing I was getting money into my bank account to provide for my family and as tough as it was not playing, it was ‘listen, Munster are paying me. I owe it to them to make sure I was training properly and preparing the lads as best I can for any opposition they were coming up against.’
“As frustrating as it was you were still employed by them to do a job. What you want to do is play matches. You don’t want to be a professional trainer. But if they ask you to sit on the sidelines you have to. They are your boss, so you have to do what you are told which was my role towards the end. It was tough but I made sure I ticked all my boxes.
“I still wanted to play. I was there for nearly eight seasons, I loved the place. I met my partner there, we had a kid in Limerick. My whole life changed when I was in Limerick, so it would have been nice to get one final run-out.
“But that’s another part of it, that job security. I have got a kid to look after, a partner, bills, a mortgage. Once I’d that signed in Treviso it was such a weight off my shoulders because you know you have that security for another two years.
“Players have to look after themselves as well and that’s why we have to look at other places. Everyone would love to stay and play with their favourite club in this fantasy fairytale, but that has become a rarity today because of competition and squads getting bigger. You have to move around and back yourself a bit more.”
22' TRRRRYYYYYYYY!!!!!! @iankeatley – two tries in two games! @JoshJMcNally charges a kick down, gathers and sprints 25 metres. The captains spreads it wide and Keatley glides over the line.
? 12-7 #LIRvSCO pic.twitter.com/BAiFsyGmnn
— London Irish (@londonirish) March 2, 2019
As soon as he walked in the door at London Irish, Keatley knew it wasn’t Munster. “The first thing I noticed is there is 12 different nationalities in the team. That’s incredible. That’s the most unique thing, players from all over the world unlike the provinces where the majority are Irish and then South Africa and New Zealand.
“To have 12 different nationalities is strange and they all have different ways of thinking and playing the game. How you get these players to gel is quite a task in itself and there is no better man for it than Declan (Kidney) who is highly known for his player management.
“It’s not a bad old place to live. It’s a nice little experience. I’ve never lived outside of Ireland before so it’s nice to get a three-month stint. The only negative was leaving my family. That has been the hardest thing the last few weeks, but it’s only for a short time and we’ll be together in Italy.
“It’s really sad to have left Munster. A lot of friends, a lot of great people. The fans, I know I have gotten stick but 99 per cent have been unbelievably nice and I couldn’t thank them more. But leaving for Treviso is a new lease of life. It’s exciting. A new language, my family moving over with me. I’m putting myself a bit out of my comfort zone, but that’s what I need now in my career.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments