The Return Of The King

John Langford is back in Ireland and he tells us about how he proved a point at Munster, the sea of red at Twickenham and how Malcolm O’Kelly inadvertently brought him to the south of Ireland.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since John Langford left Munster to return back to his native Australia.

Especially when he still seemed to know everybody on the sideline as he watched yesterday’s training session in UL, although the faces on the pitch may not have been as familiar.

“I look at the playing list and I don’t know anybody, only the coaches!”

Langford is back over on this side of the world with his family for an Australia v England Legends match and when the Australian management team found out Langford would be in Ireland for Saturday’s International they offered him a privileged role.

“They asked me to present the jerseys to the players before the captain’s run so I’ll be presenting them for the Irish game, which is a great honour.”

Langford joined Declan Kidney’s Munster in the summer of 1999 and was an integral part of the side that established Munster as a force in European rugby.

The lock had won four Australian caps in 1997 and proved to be a huge hit at Munster but could very nearly have ended up in the blue of Leinster, if it wasn’t for the intervention of Malcolm O’Kelly.

“I was looking for a club in France and England but with their foreign player restrictions I’d left my run too late.

“I didn’t know what to do so the Brumbies assistant coach, Jake Howard, suggested Ireland. So I got in touch with Peter Boyle from Leinster, started talking to them and I was all packed up and ready to go.

“It was around the time of the 1999 World Cup and all the Irish players playing abroad were coming home to play for their provinces and Leinster stopped ringing for a couple of weeks.

“So I rang and told them I was ready to go and they said ‘we don’t need you, Malcolm O’Kelly is coming back, why don’t you give Munster a call?’

“So I rang Munster and, after playing for the Barbarians in Twickenham, Declan Kidney had sent Niall O’Donovan and Brian O’Brien over to meet me.

"I’ll never forget, we were in the foyer of the hotel and I put my hand out to shake Brian O’Brien’s hand and he went straight to grab me on the gut to see if I had any extra weight and he said ‘you’ll be alright’, that was my first introduction to Munster!”

The rest, as they say, is history and Langford went on to become part of the Munster side that came agonisingly close to Heineken Cup glory in 2000, they were beaten 9-8 by Northampton in the final at Twickenham, but most of his memories are of much happier occasions.

“We had some great matches at Thomond Park but where the belief really began to set in was when we beat Saracens [35-34] at Watford, they had signs up saying ‘It is a criminal offence to run on the pitch’ and there was only 100 Irish in the crowd and to see all of them come in and invade the pitch was great.

“Then we backed it up with the match at Thomond Park and they were pretty much the best of the English at the time, those were memorable games.

“And Toulouse – the red army that went over there – support like that I had never experienced before.

Langford celebrates the Saracens win at Thomond Park

“Then the final against Northampton, I think there were 60 odd thousand there and 44 thousand were Irish people and to see what is considered the home of rugby as a sea of red and full of Irish..…I still haven’t gotten over the fact that we didn’t win, we lost that one by a point and I’ll take that to the grave.”

During his three years playing for Munster, Langford lived on Ballinacurra Road in Limerick and there used to be a young Munster fan living across the road.

The youngster knew Langford played for Munster and would call over to say hello every now and then.

Langford bumped into the young fan on Wednesday, his name? Dave Kilcoyne

“It’s made my trip to see this young fella and realise that he’s gone on to play for Munster and Ireland.

“He said, ‘do you remember me?’ And I didn’t, he used to live across the street and he was only 10 or 11 years old, I didn’t realise it was him until he told me yesterday.

“He said ‘when you played for the Barbarians you gave me your gearbag,’ and I couldn’t remember that either. I probably gave him a pair of socks too so I’ll have to hit him up for a bit of gear now!”

Langford played with the ACT Brumbies in the inaugural Super 12 competition for three years before joining Munster and he saw plenty of similarities between the sides.

“We had a great camaraderie down in the Brumbies and when rugby went professional we were the underdogs.

“We formed a great bond and we knocked off a lot of the big teams and we got to the final in 1997 against Auckland so it was very sad to leave.

“I never thought I’d experience anything like that again but jeez I fell on my feet when I landed here in Munster.

“The underdog status was a big thing, having a point to prove and the way that the guys bonded together.

“You can’t buy a team, you build a team and the coaches had a lot to do with that, Declan Kidney, Brian O’Brien and Niall O’Donovan.

“My closest friends are my Brumbies team-mates and my Munster team-mates, and that’s why I come over.”

Langford belonged to the era of players who started their careers when the game was amateur and had to adjust to life as a professional sportsman, he seemed to adjust as well as anybody and is often credited with bringing a more professional edge to the Munster set-up at the time.

“I have heard that, but that’s up to the lads to answer, I just did what I had to do to keep my body right to play.

“My selection at the highest level didn’t seem to be wanted in Australia, I came over here and I had a point to prove, that I was still able to do it, so I worked very hard and I did everything I could to be at my best.

“You’d have to ask the other fellas, if they got something out of it that’s great, but I was just doing my job.”

During his three-year spell at Munster, there were a number of local young players coming through who have gone on to forge pretty successful careers for themselves.

“It was great, I saw Paulie (O’Connell) yesterday and we were talking about it, he’s at the other end of the stick now.

“He was a young up-and-coming player and so was Donncha O’Callaghan and Mick O’Driscoll in terms of the lock position and it’s been great for me to watch those guys develop.

“Donncha was always giving out ‘John Langford coming back every year, when are you going to give the young fellas a chance?’, obviously him, Micko and Paulie have gone on to the highest level with Ireland and the two lads with the Lions so it was great to see that.

“Looking at the training I know hardly any of the players now but it was good to support Munster especially through the Heineken Cup wins in 2006 and 2008, so many of the players that I played with were still playing, ROG [Ronan O'Gara], Strings [Peter Stringer] and Wally [David Wallace]….”

“I sent text messages to all of the boys to wish them all the best and I still do it when the boys are playing in internationals and Paulie when he was out with the Lions but I don’t have to send as many messages now because they’re all retiring!”

The Australian was always a fans favourite and he was quick to acknowledge the role the supporters have played through the years.

“I was always appreciative because they really get you going, when you’re down and you need it they get behind you.

“They certainly add that little bit extra that you need sometimes to go that extra bit to win and they played a very important part in some classic wins where we’ve come from behind.

“I know times were good back then but the support and effort they go to, and you still see that now, is just fantastic because it’s not cheap to do it, but it’s great to be a part of their lives and it gives you that little bit of extra edge to go that bit harder.

“They’ve put so much time and money into it you’re just trying to repay them for their allegiance and it’s great to see the red army and everything that has sprung up from that.”

Langford played club rugby with Shannon and Garryowen but describes himself as a ‘Shannon man’ and will be in attendance at tonight’s ODM Financial Munster Senior Cup semi-final between the two sides at Thomond Park.

He left Munster to return home in 2001 and continued to play with Sydney University, after a number of false starts – “I’ve retired about seven times!“- he finally hung up his boots in 2011 at the age of 43.