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'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.
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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.
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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.
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“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 (@LiRFC) 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
He is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
2 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
2 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
14 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to comments