Rob Kearney's open letter to Leinster and Irish rugby: 'I have lived the dream of every 5-year-old boy'
Rob Kearney has written an open letter after his near 15-year association with Leinster concluded with the end of their 2019/20 campaign last Saturday. The 34-year-old wasn't involved in the Champions Cup quarter-final loss to Saracens.
However, he jointly lifted the PRO14 trophy the previous week with Fergus McFadden having earlier featured in their August game against Ulster, a match that was Kearney's 219th appearance for his home province. Kearney was due to leave Leinster at the end of the 2019/20 season in June but had his time at the club extended by a few months to accommodate the restart of the campaign following the lockdown.
"I am so very grateful for every run out that I did get in a Leinster and an Ireland jersey," he wrote in a near 1,000-word letter published on Thursday. "Losing to Saracens brought my time in a Leinster jersey and by extension an Irish jersey to an end.
"I spoke to the players in the dressing room after the game and I spoke about living a dream because that is what I have done. I have lived the dream of every five-year-old boy or girl out there that dreams of pulling on a Leinster jersey, an Ireland jersey, a Lions jersey.
"I consider myself very fortunate to have done the greatest thing that I could have done with my life and I have lived the dreams that I first had as a young lad in Dundalk RFC with the minis."
The full-back, who earned 95 Ireland caps and also starred for the Lions on their 2009 tour to South Africa, made no mention in his letter about retirement, leaving the door ajar to a continuation of his stellar career somewhere outside Ireland.
He had been linked with a switch to the Top 14 in 2019 prior to signing a one-year extension with the IRFU that kept him on board for that year's World Cup campaign in Japan, but it now remains to be seen what definitely comes next for Kearney who was quickly linked with Western Force in Australia after the publication of his letter on Thursday.
"You never get to write the script, but if I could, it would go as far as a packed RDS or Aviva in front of thousands of Leinster and Irish Rugby supporters where I would have had the opportunity to thank you all.
"The Leinster and Ireland supporters’ role in this journey has been special and running out in front of full stadia is what gives the greatest buzz and we have all missed that over the last few months and you appreciate it all the more now playing in empty arenas."
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Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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