It’s undeniable that, thus far, this week has been enjoyable for Irish rugby fans in London, despite the rising concern on this island that pride comes before a fall.
The dynamics of this afternoon’s Six Nations match have been historically turned on its head, with Andy Farrell leading a team to Twickenham that travels not in hope but in expectation and this Red Rose team hardly in blossom.
Angus Kernohan, a resident of Ballymena, has been involved with Ealing Trailfinders in London for four years and has noticed a noticeable shift in the locals’ restlessness.
The winger chuckles, “The English have actually been pretty quiet.” “A terrific indication for Ireland, but somewhat rare for them. Hopefully, we manage to keep them modest.
The big game is only around six miles from Kernohan’s house; if you want to avoid the congested roads and extensive train systems, it’s best to bike for thirty minutes. However, on Saturday afternoon, he’ll be watching his teammates play Coventry rugby. After a horrible injury that lasted for a year and a half, the 25-year-old must sit out the match while he is progressively nursed back, but he has been excited to get back on the pitch in recent weeks.
He tore his ACL and lateral meniscus in September 2022, during his team’s last preseason game before the 2022–2023 season. As a result of the simultaneous ligament damage, he had the longest journey back.
“I was aware that I had committed an act,” he remembers the encounter. “I didn’t feel particularly hurt, but it didn’t feel right either. That would occur following surgery.
However, I can still picture the physio’s face. It was obvious right away that it wasn’t excellent.
“I simply remember feeling so alone after the game when I was sitting in the physio room.
That might sound like I’m feeling sorry for myself, but my dad, my sister, and Judith—my then-fiance and current wife—were not present. I was thinking to myself, “I have no one to cry on,” and I felt really alone at that point.
“In the end, I was inundated with people; my sister came over for the surgery, my Dad the day after, and Judith the week following.
“I’m a member of a church over here as well that is just 10 minutes from the club, they were fantastic and they’ve provided a community away from home. But it was tough.
“You have that realisation that you’re not going to contribute at all to the season.
“At the end of the day, you’re there to be a rugby player. When you’re not doing that you feel guilty.
“But you get your head around it and then it’s just trying to put one foot in front of the other.”
The issue with the meniscus meant it was a month and a half before he could put any weight on the knee and another six weeks of gradually increasing loads. In essence, it took him three months to get to the point where a ‘normal’ ACL recovery begins.
As Kernohan notes, there was something of an irony that it was the desire to play that brought him to Ealing in the first place.
Despite not earning a place in the Ulster Academy upon leaving school, he made his senior debut at the age of only 19, coming off the bench against Scarlets to start the 2018/19 season in what was Dan McFarland’s first game in charge.
In all, he’d play 19 times that season and earn a further eight caps for the Irish Under-20s in what was his second year in Noel McNamara’s panel. The next year, however, he played just three times, scoring on his only start in a crazy game when much rotated Ulster and Leinster sides shared 96 points between them a week before Christmas.
Still in contact with former housemates Nick Timoney and Greg Jones back at Ravenhill, and thrilled to see another contemporary, James Hume, captain the side last week, he wishes now that he’d had more confidence when breaking onto the scene.
“I’d a really good first season when I played and I played quite a lot. The next season, Dan just had me a lot lower down the order and playing is so important when your young.
“Looking back on it, I was really young and probably put too much pressure on myself.
“If I was to go back and do it all again, I’d be more confident in who I am and the player that I was.
“I look at the guys who have gone on and done so well and I think they probably had that bit more confidence in themselves which then helped whenever they got on to that stage.
“But I look back on Ulster with a lot of joy. It was an unbelievable honour to play for the team I grew up supporting and that’s something that no matter how it ends, is something that I’m incredibly proud of and always will be.
“You always want to represent your people and your province, I don’t think I’ll ever lose that but, looking back, it was a great experience and it opened the door for coming over here. I’m very grateful for that.”
His pride at playing for Ulster is matched by his achievements in a green jersey, winning an Under-20s Grand Slam in 2019 and representing the side at the World Championships in Argentina later that same year. Also among his two underage year groups were the likes of Ronan Kelleher, Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan, and Ryan Baird, all key men in Farrell’s group to meet England this afternoon.
“There’s always a part of you that thinks that could have been me,” he admits. “Sometimes I think it can be easy to lean towards, not jealousy, but just wishing that it was you.
“But with age, I’ve learnt to just be really supportive of the guys and it’s great to see them doing so well.
“I will admit, there’s always a part of you that wants the Ulster boys to do well and get picked so when you’re looking at the selection, you’re probably more biased towards that and it’s great to see Nick (Timoney) back in the set-up and Stuart (McCloskey) getting games, but I’m really happy to see the boys I played with doing well.”
Those he plays with now aren’t doing too badly either. Ahead of today’s games, Ealing are 13 points clear with eight rounds of action to go and boasting a squad that contains Kernohan’s fellow former Ulstermen Ross Kane and Dave O’Connor, as well as a host of recognisable names like Billy Twelvetrees, Lloyd Williams and Mike Willemse.
With he and Judith having married in the summer, and her having earned a teaching job within walking distance of their front door, he says he is now loving life at Ealing except for one enduring frustration — the lack of promotion at present from England’s second tier. Saracens were the last team to make the jump with eligibility criteria scuppering the efforts of Ealing and the since defunct Jersey Reds.
“It’s insane the squad that we have,” he enthuses. “One area where that really shows is when we’ve played teams from the next level. We’ve played Zebre, we’ve played Newcastle, we’ve played Gloucester, we’ve played Saracens, we played Northampton and Leicester in the Cup this year, and if you look at the results and performances, we’ve done incredibly well.
“When you look at that, it’s obvious we’re good enough to play at that level and it just doesn’t seem right that in a competitive game, you’ve won the League and won that right, but you’re not able to.
“It’s out of our hands. It’s frustrating but, either way, this is a fun team to be part of and a great group.”
Even if he’s hoping that this afternoon his compatriots ensure the majority of those team-mates finish the week just as quietly as they’ve spent it.
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