JACK CONAN has gone from feeling like he was living through an out of body experience when he was a shock inclusion in the initial British & Irish Lions squad for this summer’s tour of South Africa, to more or less taking his selection in the starting XV for this weekend’s first Test against the World Champion Springboks in his stride. 

“I thought I was in with a bit more of a chance,” he nonchalantly explains. “It was obviously fantastic to hear my name being read out, and it had been an anxious time on Monday, but there was less emotion.” 

“Now it’s all about putting in a performance, backing up what I have done during the last couple of weeks, and making the most of this opportunity the coaches have given me. That has been my mind-set since the start of this tour.” 

Taulupe Faletau’s pedigree as a Lion Test player in both 2013 and 2017, and Sam Simmonds’ standing in English rugby, meant that Conan seemed the least likely of the three specialist No8s to start the first Test match just a few weeks ago, but his rugged defensive work and dynamism on the ball during the four matches he has played on this tour earned him the nod from head coach Warren Gatland at Tuesday’s team meeting. 

“I haven’t spoken to Warren too much since the selection,” he reveals. “I did speak to him on Tuesday morning, and he just said: ‘Don’t go into yourself. Keep doing what you’ve been doing’. And that’s been my attitude on this tour. If I make mistakes, these things happen and you just have to get on with the game. So, it was nice to have those words echoed by Gats earlier on in the week. 

“We’re not under any illusions as to how difficult it is going to be with the physicality that they bring, so it is just about going toe-to-toe with them and taking that strength away from them.” 

The 28-year-old made his international debut during the World Cup warm-up match against Scotland at Murrayfield in August 2015, but didn’t make the final cut for the tournament and it was another two years before he wore the green jersey again. To date, he has collected just 20 caps, with a combination of ferocious competition for places in the Irish backrow and injury having conspired against him. 

He did make the 2019 World Cup and came off the bench in Ireland’s opening match against Scotland, but a foot injury suffered during training the following week ended up taking 12 months to heal and he then hurt his neck just two games after making his long-awaited comeback for Leinster last October which kept him out until January. 

Finally, his luck turned, and after two more starts for Leinster, he was called into Ireland’s match-day squad for the final three rounds of this year’s Six Nations, coming off the bench against Italy and Scotland, before starting in the 32-18 dismantling of England – with his rampaging, try-scoring contribution that day likely to have been a big factor in his Lions call-up. 

“I’ve come back a different player the last few months after a few injuries,” he says. “I’ve just been taking it day by day, I’ve just been enjoying it more, and I think that shows in my performances. I have been playing better than I have ever played before.” 

Given his own injury woes, Conan can only marvel at the rapid return to action of tour captain Alun Wyn Jones. “The way I recover from things, I’d still be in a sling,” he says, with deadpan sincerity. “It is a testament to how professional he is and how well he looks after himself.  

“I remember at the training camp in Jersey when we were really working really hard and he was the first to everything, when we go to a new drill he sprints across, so that was something I noticed very quickly – how hard he works all the time – and I think that’s what has got him to where he is at the minute. 

“I think any doubts that anyone would have had were quickly put to bed when he came off the bench against the Stormers the other day, with the physical impact he had. He’s a man who leads from the front both with his actions and his words.”