DEFENDER — EMBRACE THE IMPOSSIBLE

When Patrick ‘Rala’ O’Reilly was told he was to embark on his first ever Lions tour, to South Africa, the usually unflappable bagman was taken aback. He reached for his mobile phone and dialled a familiar number. Somewhere in rural Clare, Keith Wood picked up the phone. “Woodie,” came the voice down the line from the discombobulated bagman. “I’m going on the Lions tour. So… what do I do?” Wood's answer was as succinct, insightful and reassuring as you’d expect from the straight-talking, dynamic former Ireland captain. “Be yourself, Rala” he said. “Just be yourself.” That’s exactly what Rala did, and it worked out well because being himself is what Rala does best. There are no airs or graces to him; what you see is what you get. He has an infectious warmth, a sly sense of humour and an intense passion for rugby – the game in which he has been a player, a coach, a teammate and, most recently, a bagman for two decades. So what exactly is a bagman or, to give it the proper title, a baggage master? The bagman (or bagwoman) is tasked with ensuring that everything the players need in terms of kit, equipment, training cones and gear is within easy reach both for training and match days. Spend a little time with Rala, however, and you’ll soon come to realise that being bagman means so much more than that.

The former rugby bagman on the lifelong friends he made, the places that left an impression and what ‘Embrace the Impossible’ means to him

THEY’RE ALL CHARACTERS

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On the move Rala reminisces about friendships forged over two decades as a bagman

Changing places The change room feels like home for Rala, above

“Success? I suppose winning the game, of course, but hopefully when the lads – both teams - walk off the pitch there are no injuries. I like that.”

BE YOURSELF, RALA

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First and foremost in Rala’s mind when it came to the squad he travelled with was player welfare. Everything he has done has been in support of that. His love of the sport comes through in his animated conversation, as does his affection and admiration for the players he has worked with down the years – many of them household names and iconic figures in Irish sport. The cast of players rolls off his tongue: a veritable who’s who of rugby legends, from the amateur era right through to the modern professional game. When asked to name some of the larger-than-life characters he has worked with, he laughs: “Well, they’re all characters. Claw [Peter Clohessy] was one. Rob Henderson, Paddy Johns, Keith Wood, Brian, Ronan… how long have you got? I could be here all day.” The fact that he is on first-name terms with legends such as Brian O’Driscoll and Ronan O’Gara speaks volumes. Warming to the theme, he continues. “David Humphries, China [Eric Elwood], Hoggy from Cork, Jamie Heaslip. Another great old mate, Jamie. He helped me a lot with the book.” The book in question is his memoir Rala: A Life in Rugby, which carries a quote from Heaslip on the cover: “He’s a gent, a role model but, more importantly, he’s a great friend.” Rala has forged strong bonds with players, coaches and managers over the decades. They may all be characters, but he is quite the character himself. These friendships don’t happen overnight, of course. They are formed over decades. “When you go meet all these guys, in any camp – Leinster, Lions, Internationals – you're not going to get to know the players instantly. It happens over time. “You get to know them. You get to know what they want, what they don't want, what they like, what they dislike. And especially with the Lions, because you're dealing with people from Scotland, Wales, England and of course my own lads from Ireland.”

In the early 1990s, a documentary called Graham Taylor: An Impossible Job was made about the embattled manager of the English football team. It showed the pressure on Taylor, and how the weight of expectation made the role seem thankless and doomed. The job Rala had with the national squad might also seem impossible to some. There is so much to organise and so many different personality types in the changing room that finding the right tone to strike can be tricky. Not for Rala. He threw himself into the role with an infectious enthusiasm, embracing the challenge. “Embrace the Impossible? To me that means if there's a mountain there, let's climb it. It may look impossible or it may not, but it's there. Let's go for it. It’s all about the challenge. It's the hunt for success, which I think that this current squad will achieve.” Rala himself is sanguine and thoughtful about his own definition of success. “Success? I suppose winning the game, of course, but hopefully when the lads – both teams – walk off the pitch, there are no injuries. I like that. “I try to have everything for the lads for those 80 minutes, but success is… it’s enjoyment. Being happy. Looking forward to the next game. And hopefully success this time around will be winning the World Cup with Jonathan and gentlemen. That's success to me.”

EMBRACE THE IMPOSSIBLE

As one of the most organised people you are ever likely to meet, Rala’s love for order means that he is an inveterate list-maker. The all-important list becomes the blueprint for training and match day. “Making the list is essential. That and good timing. You divide the week into sections: training, pre-match, match, post-match. And each section is different.” Those sections denote the rhythm of a team on its endless cycle of preparation, execution and analysis of the result. The fabled list will be “more or less” the same every week, containing 50 to 60 items depending on the size of the camp and where they are based. It’s full of the expected, as well as the unexpected. “Laces, studs, shoe horns… nail clippers,” Rala laughs. “It’s endless, but they are all important things.” Rala learnt to be meticulous from those whose professionalism and preparation always inspired him. “I learnt all that from the players. They are the great teachers”.

HE’S MAKING A LIST

The role of bagman brought Rala to far-flung corners of the world that he might never otherwise have seen. Mention of the various places he has visited makes his eyes light up. “Now we’re talking,” he chuckles. “I have travelled to many, many places. Beautiful countries. South Africa, New Zealand, Italy and so on. But what stuck with me a lot was Polynesia – the Kingdom of Tonga and Manu Samoa. I have so many happy memories of the people I came upon there. “For example, in Tonga, the hotel was the International Dateline Hotel. Miss Lee from Beijing was the manager – would you believe I’d remember that? – and the capital is Nuku'alofa. And, God, I can see the beaches and the palm trees. It was incredible, just incredible.” You can almost hear the waves on the surf and the gentle swaying of palm trees as Rala is transported back to that island paradise. In Samoa, meanwhile, the teams stayed in the famous Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey's Hotel & Bungalows. “Great history to the hotel. It's where the cast stayed when they filmed Mutiny on the Bounty. Marlon Brando and our own Richard Harris and Noel Purcell.” Looking back on all those tours, games and training sessions, Rala is wistful. “It’s the memories… so many memories, mostly good. I think back to the people, the players, hotels, like the Arabella beyond Cape Town, the Shelbourne in Dublin.” It’s a remarkable journey, and one that is fascinating to discuss with Rala, who obviously enjoys digging into the local history of places, whether they are Polynesian islands or Welsh mining towns.

HAVE BAG, WILL TRAVEL

“Success? I suppose winning the game, of course, but hopefully when the lads – both teams - walk off the pitch there are no injuries. I like that.”

Travel man Rala has vivid memories of the "beautiful places" Irish rugby has taken him

Having seen a fair chunk of the world, there is nowhere Rala is happier than back on home soil. Perhaps it takes all that travel to make you appreciate the treasures on your own doorstep. “My favourite place is Ireland; my particular favourite is Connemara – Renvyle and my lovely Inishbofin, off Cleggan. Ireland would be my number one place, especially Áth Cliath. Dublin. Dubh Linn. The Black Pool.” As an avid reader, Rala's fascination with the West of Ireland initially came from the pictures painted with words by some of Ireland’s most celebrated authors. “I came upon Connemara initially through books. John Synge, Pádraic Ó Conaire, Liam O'Flaherty. I love books, I love reading. And I remember reading Riders to the Sea, The Playboy… and thinking, that place sounds lovely. I could see the little stone walls and the sun bouncing off them. A donkey over here and a haystack there. I have to go there. That's what I did. And it was amazing.” His first trip to the West was back in the long hot summer of 1976 and he has been back every year since – rugby tours permitting. Rala is cautiously optimistic about Ireland’s chances in the tournament. A great sports statistician, he points to the recent test victories in New Zealand as further proof that the team has learned to win abroad, which is most important. As for where the well travelled bagman will watch the Rugby World Cup, there are a few options, but he will most likely do so in his beloved Terenure RFC where he is a much celebrated figure. “I’ll see what the gang is doing, and just follow the gang,” he says. It’s definitely time for the current crop of talented players to embrace the impossible. And no matter where their former bagman is watching from, he will be himself, for there really is only one Rala.

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

“Success? I suppose winning the game, of course, but hopefully when the lads – both teams - walk off the pitch there are no injuries. I like that.”

Born Patrick O’Reilly in his beloved Dublin, he came to be known as Rala after an incident in his school days. “I think I was only about 10. Or maybe 11. The teacher asked me to spell my name on the blackboard. My real name is Patrick O’Reilly or Pádraig Ó Raghallaigh, in Irish.” Rala began to write the Irish version of his name with the chalk. “I got as far as Raghallaigh and I wrote R A L A… and then I came to a standstill and said ‘Oh flip, what’s next?’. And the boys shouted up, ‘Good old Rala!’. That's how it started and it has stuck ever since.”

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The former rugby bagman on the lifelong friends he made, the places that left an impression and what ‘Embrace the Impossible’ means to him

BE YOURSELF, RALA