Buccaneers Centre Shane Layden joined The Rugby Show during the week to talk Buccs’ season so far, his own rugby journey and what it’s been like with Eddie O’Sullivan at the helm this year.
The newly promoted Athlone side have been somewhat of a surprise package in Divison 1B, finding themselves top after five rounds. For Layden, it’s been about gaining confidence and building on that.
“Yeah, it’s been a great start. It’s been a little unexpected, but once we got that win against Wesley, we grew in confidence as Wesley went quite well in the league last year. We lost a little bit of that fear factor that we would’ve initially had going against team such as them.
“You grow in confidence when you win a game of that stature early on in the league. The first game of the season, we lost in Armagh but came out of there with a losing bonus point, so it was kind of a good result that set us up nicely.
“We then had Wesley at home, Highfield away and then Belvo at home, so we’ve had some very difficult fixtures already. It’s great to get a few wins early as well as a few notches on teams we’ll hopefully be competing with later on in the season.”
In particular, the round three win over Highfield can be seen as one where people took notice of Buccs.
“We’d beaten Wesley in Round Two at home, but in Division 1B you’re targeting your home games in particular. But then going back to back that week after heading down to Cork, I think Highfield are very successful at home the last few years as well, we got a couple of decisions or calls that went our way and we backed it up with a good, if not great performance.”
“I suppose there’s been a real excitement from that day. There’s a bit more belief around the camp and the squad about what we can achieve.
“I know Eddie has been on the record from the start of the season saying that the goal is to stay in 1B and it still is, the league is quite condensed. If you look at where we are as opposed to Malone it’s only ten points which is only three or four bad games, so you don’t want to get into a bad run.”
“But that Highfield game kickstarted our season. It’s put us into overdrive and instead of looking over our shoulder we’re looking forward to each week.”
Of course, Buccaneers made headlines in the off-season when they hired former Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan to steer the ship in the midlands. Layden thinks that O’Sullivan has very much had a positive impact at the club.
“One of the things with a name like Eddie O’Sullivan is that he commands respect straight away from the group. When you get a new coach you always get a bounce and a lift but there’s also suspicion from players and other coaches.
“With Eddie, he’s done it at the highest level. The guys have great respect for him, he brings an aura about as well and he’s quite clear and precise in what he wants.
“The messages we get after a game or on a Tuesday night previewing a game are always quite clear in telling us what we have to do for the week ahead.
“I know one time we were looking at a game plan and once he got to know us a bit better he was able to tweak it to our strengths, so it’s great to have a coach with that knowledge.
“He also coached with Buccaneers back before he made it big, so it’s nice that he’s come full circle and hopefully he can get us back to the top.”
Of course this has been an enjoyable season for Buccs so far, but for Layden given everything the past few years has brought, such as Covid and injuries for him personally, it’s been extra enjoyable.
“It’s been off the back of quite a successful season last year where we got promoted, which itself was off the back of two Covid seasons and a long injury for myself. The way the league is formatted helps, where you play a block of three and then have a week off so you get a bit of consistency and can prepare for the following Saturday.
“It’s been enjoyable, the fun in rugby is back. Not that I fell out of love with it, but when it becomes routine then is taken away from you for two years you realise how much you miss it and will miss it when you stop, so it’s important to get the most out of it while you can, which is where I’m at personally at the moment. It’s allowed me to enjoy it rather than having the fear or nervousness you can get.”
Layden isn’t necessarily from a rugby stronghold in North Roscommon, so it’s fair to wonder how he got his start in the sport. Like many, it started in secondary school.
“Originally I would’ve played a lot of Gaelic Football with my club Shannon Gaels but my Dad would’ve been very interested in rugby. Then I went to school in Roscrea where I had my first interaction with rugby.
“I had the basics of athleticism and ball handling from Gaelic so that translated over and I also had an interest from watching it with my brother and Dad growing up. Also, in a boarding school like Roscrea, you play every sport because you don’t want to be stuck in school all day.
“I would’ve played a bit of hurling as well, but rugby was definitely my favourite. I tried to balance it with Gaelic until I was 18/19, but rugby then took over and I’ve only played a small bit of Gaelic since but I might go back one day.
Layden experienced a spell with Connacht straight out of secondary school. While his time was brief and perhaps didn’t go to plan, he’s still happy for the time he had there.
“I was quite young having come straight out of school and played for Connacht that year, which was great, but then had a couple of injuries.
“I did really enjoy my time with Connacht though and learned from some great coaches, played some time with the 7’s too. Looking back, I wouldn’t change much except hope for a bit of a break with injuries, but that happens I suppose.”
The former Roscrea man is also one of the older heads in a dressing room that is generally quite young. For him, the balance of youth and experience benefits his side.
“We’re an interesting team. We’re quite young which is great for the club but we’ve about four of five guys that have been on the AIL scene for a number of years, who have experience playing in 1B and have won it about five years ago, which is quite important.
“We’d also have played against a number of the teams we’re playing now and we know what those clubs are about or what type of rugby they’re going to play. There’s also a mix of playing attacking rugby as opposed to trying to squeeze out a win, so it’s about balancing the caution of the older lads with the flair of the young lads. Which is great, because we are quite young so it’s a good balance.”
As for this weekend, Buccs host UCC in what is a top of the table clash in 1B. It’s also Eddie O’Sullivan vs Michael Bradley, so for Layden it definitely whets the appetite.
“It’s exciting. As you said, it’s one versus two and thankfully it’s in Athlone, which is great. We know UCC came down from 1A last year and will probably play an expansive style.
“They’ve had a really good start to the season as well. Obviously they lost at the weekend but up until then they’ve been really good. So we’re looking forward to playing them. We want three from three from this block of games, but we know UCC will have a lot to offer, so looking forward to it.”
Buccaneers face UCC at 2:30PM in Dubarry Park on Saturday. The winner will take top spot in Division 1B.
