SOME PLAYERS COME up through the Irish rugby underage systems destined for bigger things. Others spend their time proving people wrong before arriving at the top.The 22-year-old is one of five uncapped players in Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad currently on tour in New Zealand, and is set to wear the green jersey for the first time at senior level in Wednesday morning’s opening fixture against the Maori All Blacks, but his road to this juncture has been full of twists, turns and the odd flat tyre.
“No disrespect to Newbridge, but at that time they weren’t producing a lot of age grade players. They are now, but around 2015/16 they weren’t. The U18s clubs and schools side can be a hard sell given it acts as a secondary team to the Ireland U18s schools – a back-up to try ensure no talented young prospect slips through the cracks.
“When I sat down with him, he was a very confident young man,” Butler says. “He’d look you in the eye when he was talking to you, he was to the point, he was ambitious and very, very respectful.“Then in terms of attributes as a rugby player, he had a really good physical frame for sticking out in the game, and was a very skillful forward.”“Whenever I had Cian in a training camp or in for preparation for a game, he made every minute count,” Butler continues.
“He probably learned a lot about himself by having to overcome a couple of hurdles along the way,” Butler says. “We came third in the AIL that year which was UCD’s best-ever finish. The majority of that was down to players like Cian, players coming from the sub-Academy, but he was a standout. He had no problem playing at that level.
“I remember coming across Cian playing for Connacht As against Munster , and I just couldn’t believe it was the same player,” Butler says. He ended the year by collecting the Connacht Fans’ Player of the Year and Rugby Players Ireland Men’s Young Player of the Year awards.“I know from talking to a few coaches at Leicester, when they played Connacht in their European Cup games , they probably didn’t know too much about certain Connacht players. They’d know the Bundee Akis and the Ireland guys, but Cian shocked them. They couldn’t believe how good this kid was.”Leicester weren’t the only ones who were impressed.
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