The Power Of Positive Thinking

Do you do anything before a match to psyche yourself up?
Not really. The night before, I like to chill out. It doesn’t matter if people are hanging around, but usually they’re gone by 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock and I go to bed.
Early nights?
No, it depends on the game. Usually our games are like 2pm, 3pm or 7pm. If it’s not at 2pm, I’ve no problem going to bed at 12 or 1am, you know what I mean. I’ve no real routine. We get there an hour before before kick-off, but it only takes me half an hour to get ready.
You have the Heineken Cup Final on May 21, eight days after the Magners semi against Ulster. That’s not a lot of time between matches.
Yep, eight days, that’s all.
Isn’t that a worry because of injuries?
No, I’d be more worried if we had a game that was meaningless. You can get hurt in training, just as easily as in games, but games where you’re not focused there’s a bigger chance of your getting injured, especially if you’ve got a game the following week. I don’t think many guys are focused on that [injuries]. We’re so competitive and we’ve got a bit of business in both leagues and this is knock-out stuff. You can’t take your eye off it, especially for this one. They know us pretty well; we know them pretty well. It’s going to be an interesting one.
Do you fancy your chances?
I’ve been told that I’m cocky at times but I’m always going to back our team. I don’t go into it to lose – when you’ve got 15 of their guys trying to hurt you and trying to score, you can’t go in with a half-hearted attitude.
It is a dangerous game at times?
Ah, not really! It’s a contact sport. I’ve been playing for nearly 20 years now and I’ve only had two serious injuries.
What were they?
I shattered my eye socket and I separated the two bones in the bottom of my leg – the ligament between went, but that’s it. Bad stuff can happen in anything.
You were around seven when you started playing?
Well, I always played. I have a brother who’s 12 years older than me and a brother that’s ten years older than me, and monkey see, monkey do. I always wanted to be my older brothers when I was younger. I saw them playing rugby and I wanted to play rugby. When the time came I was about eight or nine. My home down in Naas is a five-minute drive from the local rugby club so out I went and started playing. The guys I played rugby with then are still my best mates.
Do you think it’s a bonding sport?
It’s one of those rare sports… in some teams you have superstar, an individual that can win you games in the blink of an eye. In rugby there’s a job for everyone to do and everyone has to do that job or else you fail.
There are star players though.
Yeah, there are great players, but I still think rugby is a team sport where you can have a great player but he’s really nothing without the rest of the team. I don’t care how good one guy is, he’s not going to do that the whole time.
You said you had two brothers?
I have two brothers and I have a sister. 12, ten and eight years older than me.
So you’re the youngest.
I’m the one that got away! (Laughs) As my siblings tell me every year at Christmas time.
You were born in Israel?
Yeah I was born in Tiberias in Israel.
How old were you when you came back here?
I don’t even know if I was one. I think at that stage, my family had been out there for two years and then I was the product of hanging out in Israel for two years. Then we came home. I’ve lived in different countries because of Dad. He’s retired now but with the army he got posted abroad a lot. We lived in Cyprus for a while; we lived in Zagreb in Croatia. I finished my Leaving Cert when I was 17 and my dad had been away for that year in Belgium and my mum went out to him for another three years. So they gave me the keys to the house in Naas for myself for three years when I was 17 (laughs). I was a popular guy for that Summer.
You must have had some crazy parties.
It was a fun ol’ time. In fairness, my parents were strict but fair when I was in school. They were more worried about me doing well in my Leaving Cert and then – knock yourself out! Literally within two weeks of me finishing my Leaving Cert, my mum was gone out to my dad. They came home once every month at the start, then once every couple of months. My oldest brother was between Galway and Dublin working, so he’d pop in and make sure the house was still standing basically. I had a lot of good friends who helped me to keep the house clean so I was lucky in that.
Because you moved around a lot, do you take an interest in current affairs?
Uhm… well, Trev Hogan used to be our current affairs correspondent in Leinster. I don’t know if you know Trev. He’s a big music fan – he’d be a massive reader of Hot Press. He was our current affairs go-to guy and Shane Horgan as well. But I’ve seen the bad side of things because of where my father had to go in certain countries, so I tend to be a bit more laid-back and go with the flow. I try not to pay too much heed to it.
I was wondering if you saw Morgan Kelly’s remark that the banks were run by “faintly dim former rugby players”?
(Laughs) Don’t worry, I won’t be running the banks! I’ve a degree in Engineering, not Business, so you’re safe!
It’s quite insulting to rugby players though.
Here, look, I don’t know who’s running the banks. I know plenty of rugby players who are smart. I don’t think you can paint us all with that brush.
Do you worry about the state of the country?
Well obviously, I’m here and I’m living in it like everyone else. A lot of my friends are unemployed, on the dole or can’t get work and have had to leave the country. You see what’s going on. To be honest, I always try and stay positive because I think sometimes you can talk yourself into a bit of a state as well. Yes, it’s a tough country to get work in now and to make some money, but I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom. In everything, I think you have to focus on what you can do and remain positive, not on what-nots and if-nots.
You said you have a degree in Engineering. Is that something you’d go back to when you finish playing rugby?
I have a degree in Medical Engineering, but I’ve no idea what I want to do. I finished that degree in 2005 and I’m currently doing a part-time Masters. I’m doing it very slowly, a module or two every year because of my time constraints. I’m interested in Business and Marketing. I have no idea what I’ll do when I finish with rugby. Hopefully it won’t be soon. You never know though. You could go out on Friday and have a career-ender. But cross that bridge when you come to it.
Nowadays sports stars like David Beckham can earn way more from advertising and modelling than for what they do in the game. Do you think that’s a positive development?
Yeah, hey, go for it! If it lands in your lap and it works I don’t see any harm in it. I’d say he is a pretty astute businessman at this stage and he knows exactly what him and his brand are worth and what they bring to the table. Any guy that can make some money – I’m never going to say a bad thing about it.
Is there any thing you wouldn’t do, like underwear ads?
(Laughs) I can’t see myself posing in the nip or anything like that! Some of our other players might be keen on showing off their assets but you know, for fear of the abuse I’d get in the changing-room I’d have to decline!
Have you seen the Stade Français ‘Gods of the Stadium’ calendar?
Yeah, I have. In fairness I think the pictures are done very well. It would be entertaining to do something like that. It would be more of a laugh factor, I suppose, if somebody approached us with a good idea for a charity maybe – but I don’t think it will be done on a yearly basis. One of our friends Stan Wright is going there next year: We’re looking forward to that edition of the calendar! (Laughs)
There’s a real homoerotic aspect to many of the pictures.
Yeah, well there is. It’s Stade Français. It fits. They’re a sort of metropolitan city (Paris) and they like to do things a little bit differently.
Is it something you could see Leinster doing?
I dunno. I’m trying to think… I couldn’t see it happening in our club – it just doesn’t fit. (Laughs) Stranger things have happened, though, so you never know.
Do you find it difficult being a public face?
It took me a while to, well, not grasp the concept of it, but to get to acknowledge it. I used to be very like, ‘I’ll do what I want. It doesn’t matter how it’s perceived’. I still do have that mindset but I just have a little person on my shoulder telling me there could be some young people looking up to us, so you have to be wary of what you say and do.
Do you feel you get sucked into having a media presence whether you want to or not?
It depends. You can very easily say, ‘No, I don’t want to do any personal endorsements. I don’t want to be on billboards or in TV ads’. But we are contractually obliged to do stuff for our club and if you play in the national team, you’re obliged to do stuff for that. Now they’re not gonna force you if you’re not comfortable with doing things, but they can put weight on you to do it. But it never comes to that. I’ve always said, ‘Write what you want about me regarding my rugby’. That doesn’t phase me whatsoever. But with regard to my personal life, you know, I would be very protective. Especially when sometimes the truth isn’t written.
It must make it difficult to have a relationship when there are rumours about who you’re seeing and what you’re doing.
To be honest, I keep my private life private and I just don’t discuss it. It’s the one thing that I keep sacred. There’s a lot of crap written about all the players and a lot of the time it’s absolute bullshit.
Do you think it’s in some ways part of the job?
No. Our job is playing rugby. Stupid as it is, that’s our job. I don’t think anyone cares. I remember when I got my dog, that was in one of the papers – a picture of my new dog. Seriously! You’re kind of going, ‘Dude, it’s an eight week-old pup and you’re putting it in the paper? Really?’ Once you’ve seen that side of things, you just go, ‘Ah here!’ If that’s newsworthy…
So you have a celebrity pooch?
I think he’s getting a little following. I was contemplating bringing him along today, but I don’t know if the hotel would have appreciated me bringing him in. Actually, Puma are sponsoring my boots, which is great, and I managed to get him into a photoshoot I was doing for them. So that’s his notoriety done.
Do you think you have to see yourself as a brand?
You don’t have to, no. But if you want to get off-field work, if you want to look for endorsements or sponsorship, if you want to make money outside of what you make from your job, then you probably do have to see it that way. If you look at how brand marketing works you go, ‘Okay, what does this brand stand for? What do you want to people to see it as?’ And you have to be wary of what you do, what you say and what you are aligned with.
Is that something you worry about?
No, I’m always pretty careful about any sponsorship I do or anything I endorse or am associated with and how we work with each other and make sure we’re all on the same page and that everyone gets what they want out of it.
When Brian O’Driscoll got married he made photos available to everyone so that there wouldn’t be a press scuffle to get them. There was going to be interest and there was nothing he could do about that. Do you think our appetite for those kinds of pictures is intrusive?
You’d have to ask Brian.
It could happen to you.
I don’t know. Brian’s a different league. He’s been one of the best players in the world for the last ten years. He’s obviously going to bring his own different level of attention. But he is a man who is very wise, very tuned-in and knows what’s going on in regards to media. He gives them enough but keeps what he can private. Everyone got photos, let’s say, of his wedding, but they weren’t there for the private moments that him and Amy felt sacred. I didn’t see anyone taking snaps at the reception or the following day when they were more relaxed and we had a party and stuff. They’ve struck the right balance. It is what it is and you have to deal with it. In his case, he gets an unbelievable amount of attention and he deserves every accolade he gets as well.
You cancelled your Twitter account. Was that for privacy?
No I still have it. It’s @jamieheaslip. What happened was, I had an initial one and I had a bet with my mate, and he kinda goes, ‘I bet you can’t give up Facebook or Twitter’. And I was like, ‘Yeah that’s easy!’ So I did it – deactivated both of them. But when I reactivated Facebook you go back to normal – but you can’t do that with Twitter, so I had to do a new one. A shameless plug would be great because I’m only on 4,000 followers and Cian Healy is kicking my ass. I’m in part two of the bet – if I get to a certain number of followers he’ll donate to two charities I’m working for this Summer. I’m going to work for Goal in Calcutta. I’m there for four days and then I go on to Kathmandu in Nepal for the Umbrella Foundation and work in orphanages for a couple more days.
Do you like being able to have interaction with people through Twitter?
I love social media. I think it’s a great forum. I’m more private on Facebook. I don’t have one that’s open to the public or anything. I do a public Facebook through Guinness – they have a couple of us rugby guys as Guinness ambassadors. We post pictures and videos and comments and interact with the fans. My own Twitter is a nice way of interacting with people. They can slag me and say I have a boring life and ask why I’m putting up such crap on Twitter. My reply is: ‘Don’t follow me then’ (laughs). It’s good to let people know your feelings on a game. People might have an interest in that.
You had a slightly heated exchange with a fan after the Six Nations.
It’s funny sometimes. You have the keyboard warriors and the armchair critics that want to put their tuppence in. Sometimes I take criticism from people who don’t play the game, but it can be hard to take. There’s only a couple of people in rugby, mentors of the game, I would listen to in regards to how to play or what to do – and other players as well obviously. But everyone else, I’d take what they are saying with a pinch of salt.
You must get drunk guys coming up to you…
You know what’s really funny? You go out and they won’t say anything to you until about 1am and then a bit of Dutch courage is on board. You can have people coming up and telling you the sun shines out of your ass and then people who want to start a fight with you (laughs). It can go two ways.
Which is worse?
If you believe all the good things people write about you and say about you, then the other side of that is you have to believe all the bad things they say and write about you. I just let it all fall on deaf ears.
I can imagine guys wanting to pick fights with you to prove something to their mates.
I’ve had guys in the past who’ve tried to make a scene or kick things off. I’m pretty lucky that – I touched on it earlier – some of my core mates I’ve known since I was eight. They’re great, they always have my best interests at heart, especially on a night out after a game. I can stick up for myself but you know they’ll see a situation and defuse it pretty quickly.
If you had to defend yourself, that’s not a good situation for you.
If you think about it – the average bloke, he doesn’t work out. We’re in the gym two, three times a week. The majority of the time we’re strong and fit blokes and train more than the average guys. It could be seen that you have an edge on him even if it’s not your fault. If something kicked off? Jesus, you don’t know what could happen. Whatever the result, it would never be good. I’m lucky enough I’ve steered clear of fights since I was in school.
It’s always useful to have friends you can trust.
They’re tuned into what’s going on. There’s a lot of crap that floats around and a lot of people with different agendas so it’s good to have your core mates as a sounding board who can give you a different perspective on things. They keep you grounded. With my mates it’s mostly by slagging me off! That’s one way of doing it. Even if I go out with the team, one or two of my buddies would come to the game and come out with me afterwards and crash at mine and then head off back to Naas the next day.
There’s always plenty of women that throw themselves at sports stars.
(Laughs) It’s funny. I don’t really know about people throwing themselves at you. The way I see it, anyone that comes up to you, be it a guy or a girl, you don’t have to be distrustful of people – but you do have to have your wits about you. Like I said before, I usually have my buddies around me and they’re a good sounding board.
So they can sort out the women for you?
(Laughs) No, no! That’s very Vinnie Chase from Entourage. Jesus, not like that at all! But you know, I would like to think, not that I’ve learnt everything, but that I’ve learnt a bit with regards to people and I have my wits about me. I think I’m pretty good on that front.
How do you relax? What do you do for fun?
I listen to tunes, walk the dog, hang out at home, meet the lads for coffee in town. I go to a lot of gigs actually – I love going to gigs.
What kind of music do you like?
I like a bit of everything. I just got onto The National – I’m a latecomer. Loving that. The last gig I went to was Adele in the Olympia a couple of weeks back. I’m big into Oxegen. I’m mustard-keen to see Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5. I’ve Pavarotti on my iPod – it’s a bit of an eclectic mix. I’m a rainbow of colours when it comes to music.
Since rugby has gone professional the perception of players…
What are we called? Dumb what was that?
Faintly dim former rugby players.
(Laughs) That’s a nice one. Go on.
There was an idea that rugby was posh boys and getting langered. Do you think that was unfair?
My parents had to put two kids through college when you had to pay fees. We weren’t a wealthy family at all. I managed to start playing rugby because my dad played it and enjoyed it. I dunno, I find it hard to swallow because myself and my friends that played it, we were from normal backgrounds, living in Naas, playing teams all over north Kildare and south Kildare. We played against all sorts, so I find that a hard one to take. There’s always a stereotype that someone’s going to be slotted into and I suppose rugby was slotted into that for a while. Now the game’s just getting bigger and bigger. A good game of rugby is a nice sport to watch. It appeals to a wide audience. I think a lot of that in Ireland is to do with teams like Leinster, and the national team, and the success they’ve been enjoying.
How do you fancy Ireland’s chances in the World Cup?
We’re gonna win! As a South African, you’re going to find that hard to take.
We’ve won it twice. We don’t really need to win it as much as Ireland!
(Laughs) I always say we’re going to win. If I get on that squad – I’ve never been to a World Cup – I’m going with the intention of getting on a team and I don’t want anyone else on it that doesn’t want to win. Whatever players get picked, you can be sure they are not going there to make up numbers, they’re going to win. That’s the mind-frame you have to have. Our goal is to win it. We just have to break it down into little parts and little steps and how we go about that.
You must have been gutted not to be chosen for the 2007 World Cup.
Yeah, I was. My professional career started in 2005, so that was the end of my second full season. I thought I’d done well in both the Magners’ League and the Heineken Cup and made it all the way to the last game before the squad was picked and I didn’t get the nod. So I was fairly gutted. It was one of the goals I’d set and I’ve set it again – so hopefully I’ll achieve it this time.
What do you think happened to Ireland during the Six Nations?
I think the games we lost, we lost due to our own mistakes. I think we’re the only ones you can blame. But I tell you what: I prefer to lose and learn from February, March and April than to lose and learn come September, October. People can come up with all sorts of reasons, but the level that we’re playing at – make mistakes and you get punished.
Is there much dirty play at international level?
No – there’s a lot of hard playing. I mean, you end up on the wrong side of a ruck you’ll get a bit of a ruck-in and that’s part and parcel of it. Contacts, tackles and carries by the big players are getting bigger and bigger. It’s getting a lot more physical. But you can’t (be dirty): There’s a lot more cameras. There’s citings that happen after games.
You got into trouble last year (Heaslip struck the All Blacks’ Richie McCaw).
I did. I got a bit carried away (laughs). I saw him killing the ball and tried to get him off it and that was that. I didn’t do it the right way and paid the price. Simple. I was sent home early and left the team in the lurch. The team had to play with 14 players for 60, 65 minutes of a game against the All Blacks, which is tough enough with 15 players, never mind 14. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever done.
How do you handle stress?
I tend to be very laid-back and not get stressed-out by a lot of things. Before games, I tend to get tired. I don’t get giddy. My first year, I’d be sleeping in the changing-room before games in that hour lead-up, because I’d be so tired from the stress. But the more and more I’ve played, my body’s got used to it. I don’t fall asleep now, but I do need a little caffeine hit.
Do you have a temper?
I am a very patient man – but when I cross the line I can unload I guess.
What angers you?
Lies. People who are dishonest. I don’t like dishonest people, who say one thing and do another – or say one thing to your face and say another thing to someone else. I really have no time for that or fakeness or people who have an agenda and use people.
Being in public you must attract those people?
Yeah. But I think it’s happened to everyone in life where they think they can trust this person, be it in business or your normal life or whatever, and they’re not the person you thought they were. You think you’d get over that in school. That’s one thing I would have an issue with.
You can only have time for so many people in life anyway.
Yeah, I’m not one of those people with 500 or 1,000 friends on Facebook. I have a hundred or so friends and have a model – if I haven’t talked to you in six months, you’re gone. There’s no point.
Do you drink?
Yeah, to the disappointment of my father! He never drank and he has three sons and a daughter who like to drink.
Can you get drunk or not because of training?
Yeah. Go out and enjoy yourself by all means. Everyone has to let off steam. Our season’s long. We started training for this season in the start of July so we’re ten months into it. You’d be mad if you were totally restricted for ten months – and not do anything bad. You have to go out and celebrate the wins. It’s no problem as long as you turn up for training and are fresh and ready to go.
How about drugs?
No, no. I’ve been getting tested since I was 17. On our holidays we have to give an hour a day where we’re going to be, so the drug testers have the option of turning up and testing us at their will. It’s like the man in the air always has an eye on us.
That’s a bit like Big Brother?
Some of us had an issue at the start thinking that it was an invasion of your privacy, on your holidays. But the big picture… Sevens Rugby is an Olympic sport now and that was part and parcel of it no matter what. They could knock on my door when I go home if they want. Luckily it rarely happens. I’ve only been tested four times.
So in a single par, what’s it like being a rugby player?
It’s very boring a lot of the time. The time you have off everyone’s working, and when you’re working, everyone’s off! When we finish the season we get four weeks off. People go, ‘Oh my God, you have four weeks in a row off’. Yeah, but we don’t get bank holiday weeks, we don’t get Christmas off. You can relax but you have to come back in somewhat good order, or your pre-season training is going to be a whole lot worse. I take two weeks of that holiday where I blow off a lot of steam and that’s usually in Vegas. This year it looks like it’s going to be Ibiza and Vegas.
So what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?
Oh yeah! Every time! I am a big advocate of Vegas. I’m an Ibiza virgin so it’s going to be interesting…

-- The Heineken Cup Final between Northampton and Leinster is on Saturday May 21, and will be followed in September by Ireland winning the
World Cup --