Prop Idol: Jack McGrath Scrums Down with Hot Press

Jack McGrath probably wants to be in bed. To be fair, it’d be hard to blame him.

Less than 48 hours after a ferocious display against Scotland — which included nine carries, eight tackles, and the not inconsiderable effort of scrummaging against the fearsome Willem Nel for some 67 minutes — most of us mere mortals would be stuck in hospital, hooked up to all manner of IVs and monitors...

“I had to be pushed out of the bed this morning,” he laughs — as if there’s any other way to start a week. “I’m a bit stiff, and a bit sore – but when you win, the soreness isn’t quite as bad as after you lose.”

While the victories over Scotland and Italy provided a much-needed happy ending to an underwhelming Six Nations campaign, the last few months may well be the making of the 26 year-old Leinster and Ireland prop. Named in everyone’s Team of the Tournament, right now he’d also be most people’s No.1 pick at loosehead prop for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand next year. It is water off a duck’s back to the 26-year-old.

“I hadn’t seen that stuff myself until a few people texted me about it,” he says. “It’s nice to get that sort of compliments, but I’m ultimately disappointed with how we got on as a team. You can’t play a rugby game on your own. There’s 14 — or 23 — other guys there with you, and a lot more behind the scenes as well.

“Overall, the feeling is one of frustration,” he continues, rueing the results earlier in the campaign that derailed prospects of an unprecedented three-in-a-row for Joe Schmidt’s men. “We’re happy with how we finished, winning two tough games. But the tournament was a learning curve for us that’s going to pay dividends in the future.”

There are other matters up for discussion this afternoon. Jack is an ambassador for the Tackle Your Feelings campaign, recently launched by the Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association (IRUPA) in partnership with Zurich. A three-year national initiative promoting mental wellbeing, it will see players sharing their stories about issues they’ve had to deal with off the field.

“With this campaign, we’re asking people to be honest with themselves,” he reflects. “to open up about their feelings, and find strategies to cope with those feelings. If you’re feeling sad, angry, anxious, or depressed, it can be as simple as taking a walk. The main thing is just being honest with yourself; it took me six years to do that.”

When he lost his brother Stephen to suicide in 2010, Jack was a young up-and-coming prospect, focused on playing rugby.

“I thought: ‘don’t cry, you have to be tough’. I tried to distract myself, first by getting a professional contract, then breaking into the Leinster team, then the Irish team. It took five or six years to do that, and I figured that by pushing the pain and anxiety down, it would eventually go away. But once I’d succeeded in doing all that, I realised the pain was still there. It came to a head one day six months ago, when I woke up with this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I turned to my girlfriend and said, ‘I just can’t do this anymore’. It was too tough.” Sharing his problems was a turning point for Jack.

“I can’t explain how I felt afterwards, so great was the relief. I haven’t looked back since, and I’ve felt so much better about everything, on and off the field. It worked for me. I believe it’ll work for other people too.”

The players’ campaign comes at a time when attitudes towards mental health are changing. Things are improving, but there’s still a way to go.

“People are more open,” he says, “but there’s still a stigma. We want to get to a place where it’s OK to be vulnerable, and to talk about your feelings.

“You can be tough and have feelings too,” he laughs. “That’s something people don’t necessarily understand; no matter how macho people think you are on the field, you’re still human, and you still have to deal with problems, big and small.”

In the dressing room, Jack practices what he preaches.

“It’s always a bit of craic. But if one person isn’t feeling good, there’s another one to put an arm around them. Any changing room I’ve been in, I’ve been conscious of that, and tried to be there if someone needed help.”

On the field, friendships with his Irish colleagues are about to be put to one side, as the race for the Pro12 title reaches its climax. Just days after they lined out together in green, Jack and his Leinster colleagues locked horns with Robbie Henshaw and Nathan White in a top-of-the-table clash with Connacht. Seven days later, it’s Donnacha Ryan, CJ Stander and the Munster boys in opposition. It must be strange for the players to go from friends to foes in a matter of days?

“It is a strange feeling,” Jack admits. “I trained with Finlay Bealham and Nathan White for eight weeks; they got to know me inside-out, and I know them the same way. And seven days later, we’re coming up against each other! If anything, you play harder against your mates. It’s about having a bit of craic too — sometimes you forget to enjoy the game. I think that’s where lots of people fall down.”

Of course, nothing is as enjoyable as collecting trophies – as Jack well knows. “There hasn’t been a season without silverware in quite a while,” he grins, fully aware he’s winding up a Munster fan like yours truly.

Unusually, the domestic competition is the only hope of glory for Leinster this year.

“We didn’t do ourselves any favours in the Champions Cup,” he says. “We were poor in a few of the games. But there was something of a learning curve involved there, too. When teams go through successful times, but players leave, then a certain mentality can sometimes leave with them. It can take a season or two to build that back up. Young lads play with no fear, and express themselves, which is great. But they also don’t know the pain of coming so close but just falling short. When you haven’t had to dig in and feel that pain, it can be hard. The mix is there for Leinster again, though. It’s looking good for the future.”