Last Sunday Peter McKenna was in Paris with his Irish team-mates watching the final of the Air France Sevens tournament. His season now theoretically over, he was enjoying the game when he overheard the team's French liaison officer informing Irish coach Denis McBride he was wanted urgently on the telephone by the IRFU's Joan Moore. About 10 minutes later McBride returned and said to McKenna: "Never say anything good never comes out of a sevens tournament." McKenna was on standby for the squad which was leaving the Americas the next day, and had to fly home immediately.
McKenna was told he was on the 8.40 p.m. flight. With Irish players dropping like flies in the Barbarians match, both he and James Topping duly caught the flight; Tyrone Howe returned the next day, going straight to the Berkeley Court and then back to the airport with the Irish squad.
McKenna touched base at the Berkeley and was told by Warren Gatland, "You're in." He met the injured Girvan Dempsey, who wished him the best, and was also left a hand-written note by Dominic Crotty, who was missing the first week of the tour due to his marriage on Monday.
During the flight from Dublin and in his first day's training, McKenna was aware that he was the only out-and-out full back amongst the 27 players in the squad, but he was also conscious that Mike Mullins is a very dynamic full back, while David Humphreys could easily slot in there. He wasn't quite sure how the Irish management viewed him, so he ignored his fellow players' congratulations. At the 10 a.m. Thursday morning meeting in the hotel team room McKenna's name was the first to be read out. He heard the next couple of names but no more. McKenna has always been talented, playing for the Leinster schools' under-19 and under-21 sides and was thrown straight into the Old Belvedere first team by Donal Spring at 19, before first breaking into the Leinster senior squad four years ago. So, given he's 24, what kept him?
"It was my time to make the break, so I decided to go back to my studies and I don't regret that at all. I wanted to make sure I had a platform there for the rest of my life. This year I got a taste from Leinster again thanks to Mike Ruddock. Every training session I've attended since I was 10 has gone towards this day." Having completed his law degree, McKenna did a diploma in business studies and then a masters in business studies, before returning to his apprenticeship with Donal Spring. He's fortunate to have Spring there as a sort of mentor again, for the former Irish international has been receptive to McKenna's increasing rugby demands this season. McKenna has just begun a sabbatical to turn full-time next season.
He admits the decision to turn down a part-time contract when the game went professional stopped the momentum of his career, and meant effectively going back to square one at the start of this season. "Thankfully Mike Ruddock stuck with me. He asked me every season if I just wanted to come down to training and I turned him down twice, but thankfully he asked me a third time."
The advent of former New South Wales coach Matt Williams as Leinster backs' coach was another boon. "He gives you great confidence and can talk through it in the way of someone who just knows his stuff."
Ruddock's persistence is a statement of faith in McKenna's ability. Most of all he has that most important gift of all, pace. It meant frequent spells on the wing, as well as the centre, and even for a spell at outhalf during his earlier CBC Monkstown days. However, full back has always been his
preferred position and his most effective. He likes the freedom that goes with it, and the responsibility of being the last line of defence. It's a daunting enough debut at short notice, but as Brian O'Brien says of him, "he's got a good head on his shoulders". After a couple of great years at Anglesea Road, last season McKenna felt he needed a new challenge, so he chose St Mary's. "Basically I wanted to play in the back line, that was it. I felt that if I went there I'd have to work that bit harder. I'm not a lazy player or person at all, but sometimes you just need that little bit extra to motivate you and it was the best motivation I could get."
Last season there was a vacancy at outside centre, and then over the summer Kevin Nowlan moved to Wanderers, enabling McKenna to play in his preferred position. McKenna's graph rose sharply again with Leinster this season, and he was named in the 43-man combined senior and A squad for the Six Nations and then the first A selection against England. The preceding Friday McKenna stopped work to begin his sabbatical, scored a try for St Mary's the next day against Ballymena before getting injured and being sidelined for a couple of months.
However, he's gradually eased his way back, an AIB League winners' medal helping his recuperation and confidence to a level where he now feels comfortable about his fitness. A host of good judges have taken him under his wing - Spring, Ollie Campbell, John Connolly, Ruddock and Williams - and many tip him to eventually nail down the Irish number 15 slot, though the rivalry for this position seems more acute than any other, with Crotty, Dempsey, Gordon D'Arcy, Geordan Murphy and Conor O'Shea pursuing the same goal. First step today then. His excitement is palpable. As Ireland's only part-timer on the team, he's bound to be nervous and it's a big step up.
