‘I played with Kilmacud until I was 14’ – Ross Byrne relishing his first chance to play at ‘iconic’ Croke Park

The Leinster out-half has attended All-Ireland finals at Croke Park but Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton will be his first taste of a rugby match at GAA HQ.

“I did play a little bit for Kilmacud Crokes back in the day,” Byrne recalled.

“I never got to play at Croke Park unfortunately, but I’ve been there a fair few times.

“It’s some stadium, obviously it’s such an iconic stadium in this country. With it selling out so fast as well, hopefully it’s a very special day. GAA was always very much secondary, I kind of got dragged into it by accident to be honest.

“They were down numbers one day so I went up for a game and enjoyed it so I kept playing for a few years. I probably stopped at about 14.”

Leinster have been leaning on Declan Darcy’s influence this week, as the province’s performance coach relays his experiences of Croke Park on the big days with Dublin.

“We’re all open to speak to Dec whenever we want, so he’s great for the players,” Byrne (below) said.

“Obviously the experiences he’s had over however many years with Dublin, how successful they were. It’s great to tap into him in these weeks.”

Croke Park Groundsman talks about the challenges of making the pitch rugby ready

Friday’s captain’s run will be the first time that Byrne gets a chance to kick at Croke Park, and while the steep stadium and the size of the pitch may throw up different challenges to Lansdowne Road, the 29-year-old isn’t overly concerned by what awaits this weekend.

“It’s not something that I’ll waste too much energy on and obviously we’ll be able to see it when we get there on Friday, so hopefully it’s all right,” Byrne added. ​

“I think it’s the same as every time you go away from home.

“I know everyone is speaking about the dimensions of the pitch and stuff, but we’re well used to going away from home, if it’s the group stages of this competition and doing captain’s runs there.

“So, the fact that you get there the day before is a big benefit.”

Having someone like Johnny Sexton, who place-kicked at Croke Park with Leinster and Ireland, to pick up the phone to this week, could prove helpful for Byrne, who smiled when that suggestion was put to him.

“We’ll see,” he said. “I think the experience is the big thing in terms of the occasions.

“And I think sometimes these games are slightly different, the occasion, how close they can be and how much they can hinge on big moments and just probably being able to lean on the experiences of the past, the whole team.

“That’s probably a big benefit that we have as a squad, we have so much experience at club level as well as international level. It’s just being able to tap into all of that.”​