Heffernan overcomes initial doubts at change of role in the Connacht pack

TO be a hooker in rugby, you must be prepared to stick your head where others wouldn’t put their boot.

No wonder, then, Dave Heffernan thought twice when asked by the Connacht management to transition from the back-row to the front-row.

The conversation happened nearly four years ago, as the Mayo man was strolling off the pitch after training at the Sportsground.

Billy Milliard, who was then the province’s backs’ coach, broached the subject. “We decided it probably was the right call for me,” said the 26-year-old from Ballina.

Heffernan, who signed a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, has been impressive in his new role at number two, and has been tipped as a future Ireland hooker.

But it was a tough slog. “It was a pretty difficult transition to make,” he said.  “It took a lot of bad days to build that confidence and there was a lot of hard work involved in it. I’m reasonably happy at the moment that I made the call. I’m not where I want to be but I’m on track. It’s taken a long, long time. I’ve taken it step by step and day by day.

“Physically, it’s a bit different. I’m bigger now than what I was then. I don’t think that would have been a huge factor. I’ve put on a bit of size obviously, but that wasn’t the toughest part of the transition. The toughest part was probably the throwing and getting used to the scrummaging.

“The mindset it different. Throwing is a different skill, and I never really had that in rugby before. To be able to transition from making a tackle or trying to make a big carry, to then centre yourself and being completely focused on executing one job (lineout throwing), when everyone is kind of looking at you, it’s similar to goal kicking in that way. It was something I hadn’t been used to in rugby before and that was tough.”

Connacht head coach Pat Lam, who once declined an invitation to become a front-row, recognised the bravery of Heffernan’s decision.

And he has been mighty impressed with his dedication to becoming a decent hooker, including spending two months in the off-season with a club in New Zealand learning the trade of scrummaging, hooking and throwing.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.