
Share
28th January 2017
11:44am GMT

"Tadhg’s connection to the school meant something to him and the thing that highlighted that for me highlighted that most clearly was very recently, subsequent to the series of autumn internationals when the last game was against Australia on the Saturday. "I was walking out that door on the Monday and just as I was going around the corner, Tadhg comes towards me in a tracksuit and an old t-shirt and goes, ‘Here Aidan, just came in to give you that’. And what he gave me was, and I just happen to have it here, was his jersey from the Chicago game."[caption id="attachment_111083" align="aligncenter" width="768"]
Credit: Dion Fanning[/caption]
All players in the matchday 23 get two jerseys. Good Counsel got one and the other is in the Furlong family home.
O'Brien recalls how Furlong was only too happy to hang around for a chat and to meet some of the students. He says:
"It was lunch hour so I held on to him, so we went out and just strolled and obviously lots of the kids saw him around and took a few photographs and so on, but the perspiration was rolling off his forehead and it wasn’t because of the warm climate or anything, he felt I would say self-conscious. "He would have been happy to come in and give us that jersey and just get out of here and I think I probably put him under a bit of pressure by making him hang around and meet the fellas. His modesty would be such that he would have no problem doing it and he would love to do it, but there was a degree of discomfort in it."Furlong has come a long way from the sports-mad student that would give his hand at anything, given the chance. He always stood out as a top rugby prospect but a love for GAA saw him line out for local [Horeswood] football and hurling teams. O'Brien says Furlong is great for staying in touch with his old school and getting along to support them in sporting endeavours. Looking back to that visit and gifting of the Ireland jersey, he has nothing but good words for Furlong.
"The thing that struck me about the gesture was that he might have given me prior notice so I’d set up something. "But he just walked in unannounced and it was the Monday after he had played against Australia and there was lots of stuff going around about a potential Lions trip so I think that probably says quite a lot about him."Furlong is going far but there will always be that connection to home. KEEP AN EYE ON SPORTSJOE THIS SUNDAY FOR AN IN-DEPTH TADHG FURLONG FEATURE.
Explore more on these topics: