COPYRIGHT - ALLIED MEDIASean Jansen with his prized Ireland rugby jersey at his former Green Island club. Photo: Gerard O'Brien It is one of the great southern rugby stories. Sean Jansen went from playing club rugby for Green Island and Heartland rugby for North Otago to making his test debut for Ireland then facing the All Blacks at Eden Park. Hayden Meikle finds out more during Jansen’s return to Dunedin. Meikle: You’ve come a long way, Sean. Head still spinning? Jansen: Being home, and reflecting on it all, it’s kind of a crazy journey. I’m so driven to want to play, and sometimes you’re just so focused on moving to the next thing. But when you sit back and you’re talking to mum and dad, or you’re talking to your friends and you reflect, yeah, it’s a crazy journey. When you pulled on the Irish jersey for the first time to play Japan in Newcastle, how did it feel? Oh, man. Just a dream come true. There’s no better feeling. I got the week of the Australian test to get involved. I didn’t play but I was 24th man, so I trained and I got to have a bit of a feeling of what it was like for a test week. I was raring to go after that. You’re a Kiwi lad but what did it mean to represent Ireland? My mum’s parents were both born in Ireland, and I remember they still had a very strong Irish accent. Since I was young, I’ve always had a strong connection to Ireland and I was always proud of my Irish side. Since I’ve moved to Ireland, I’ve had support from so many family members and met so many great Irish people. It’s such a privilege to wear the jersey. Did it take you some time to accept you were ready for test rugby or were you always confident you could make the step up? I wasn’t, you know, a 19-year-old playing at a level like Super Rugby and then cracking test rugby at 20 or 21. I’ve heard a lot of stories of boys that are young, and they make it, and they feel like impostors. My journey has been quite long, and I think I just have quite a lot of self-belief in what I can do. After the season I had with Connacht, I came into Irish camp and rather than going, oh, it’s so cool to be here, I was like, I kind of deserve to be here, and I deserve to play. Stuart Lancaster (former England coach) was our coach at Connacht this year, and he has been awesome. He just told me to be myself, and that’s kind of what I did. And after the debut against Japan — when you were named man of the match — came the All Blacks at Eden Park. Was that a different feeling again? It was pretty cool. You get in a wee bubble when you’re in camp, and you don’t really have the outside pressures unless you’re scrolling on your phone and stuff. It didn’t really all hit me until I walked out, did the anthem and faced the haka. It was a pretty cool moment, to be honest. Sportsfile via Getty ImagesSean Jansen prepares to take on All Blacks No 8 Ardie Savea during the Nations Championship test at Eden Park. Photo: Getty Images Did you swap jerseys with anybody at the All Blacks? Yeah, I swapped with Ardie Savea. I was talking to him after the game. He used to be my favourite player when I was in high school so that was a cool moment. You don’t want to stop at two test caps, I assume? No, definitely. I’ve got a few more weeks here then into preseason and a few games for Connacht. There are tests in November, so all going well I get selected for that. Then Six Nations, obviously the World Cup . . . it’s a big year coming up. You were originally at Leicester but now you seem pretty settled with Connacht. Enjoying Ireland? I am, yeah. Ireland rugby players are very professional, and they’re very diligent in what they do, and I’ve learnt a lot from players who have been there, done that. Someone like Bundee Aki has taught me a lot. But even the younger boys over there — how diligent they are with their craft. From my time over there, I feel like I’m just keep getting better and better. How is former Otago and Highlanders stalwart Sam Gilbert doing at Connacht? He went very well in his first season. He’s been awesome with the boot. I can’t remember how many conversions he hit in a row but it was something crazy. It’s cool having him over there. We’ve also got Josh Ioane there. So it’s a good wee crew. Your story captured a lot of attention because you were so young when you went overseas and you jumped straight from club and Heartland rugby to the professional ranks in Europe. Guessing you do not have any regrets about leaving New Zealand to pursue your career? No regrets at all. Looking back, I went through a phase where I was probably just going down the wrong track a little bit, like a lot of people do. I think I was getting back on the right track but maybe I burnt a few bridges. Heading away has kind of made me the person I am today. It was such an awesome opportunity. I’ve seen a lot of boys head overseas and go into themselves, because you’ve got no family support and it makes you grow up really quickly. I feel like I grew a lot, matured a lot, and realised what I really wanted to achieve. What were you like when you came out of Otago Boys’ and started thinking about the future? I was always driven, and I always wanted to be a professional rugby player. But I was probably quite stubborn, and didn’t really know how to deal with my emotions. I could get angry quite a lot. And you come out of school, and alcohol is a big thing, and you get involved in the drinking and then you’re hanging with mates, and there’s fights or whatever. It’s quite a slippery slope, and I feel like a lot of people kind of get stuck down that route. It could have easily been the same for me, so I was obviously very fortunate, but I’m just a lot more mature now. OTAGO IMAGES/OTAGO DAILY TIMESSean Jansen scores a try for Otago Boys' in front of Waitaki Boys' winger Jacob Tuisani at Littlebourne in 2017. Photo: Peter McIntosh You’re doing just fine in Ireland, to be clear, but have you ever thought about coming back and hooking into Super Rugby? When I first went over to England, I did think I’d love to go back to Super. But since going to Ireland, and playing for Ireland, it’s not really something I have thought about. As a kid, all I watched was Super Rugby. Maybe in my later career, who knows, but for now I’m really enjoying playing in Ireland. Rugby tends to take over your life but are you getting some work-life balance in Ireland? I’m definitely way better at that now. I’m trying to do stuff outside of rugby because you can drain yourself when you’re in rugby mode all the time. I’m trying to get into golf. I’m not too good at it, but Josh Ioane’s very good, so he’s bringing me along. Or we just go out for coffee and hang out away from rugby. You had a good crew of family and friends there for your test debut. What have your parents, in particular, meant to you as you have chased your rugby dream? I was on the way to the Japan game and I was just thinking about what I would do after the game, maybe going and giving them a hug, and I was getting a bit emotional. They’ve been by my side the whole journey, and they always had belief in me. They hadn’t seen me play at the professional level until near the end of this season. They came to South Africa to watch us play the Stormers and Lions, and then back home to play Munster. Having them there to watch me play for Ireland was pretty special. When you give your mum a hug after your test debut, it kind of all hits you. That’s a moment I’ll definitely cherish for the rest of my life. Do you know you’ve still got a lot of fans from your one season with North Otago? I loved it up there, honestly. The boys up there are just legends. I need to go up there and go see them. I was very close with Ralphie Darling and all the boys. Heartland is such cool footy. I was talking to a few boys in Dunedin who were looking at options and I was like, man, you’ll never regret going to a Heartland team. It’s actually get a bit of a professional vibe to it, because you fly out before the game, and you stay in a hotel the night before a game, but you’ve also got some country boys hooking into lollies and crisps before a game. It’s honestly such a cool environment. That’s definitely a season I’ll cherish and I’m proud to be able to say I played for North Otago. What do you like to do when you return to Dunedin? There’s a lot of food I have to eat. I need to be careful, because otherwise I’ll come back in not such good shape. It’s just nice seeing family and friends. And it was cool to go back to Otago Boys’ and talk about my journey and stuff, and meet some old teachers. And you’ve got your own boy now. How is fatherhood? Yeah, my son just turned 2. It means you’ve got someone else who you are doing it all for. It gives you a deeper meaning to life. I want my son to look at me and be proud of what I’ve done. It’s awesome. He’s got rugby balls and footballs and golf clubs, so he’s definitely going to be into sport. hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz
