Mangan fueled by family and friends at Leinster

Diarmuid Mangan was one of 47 Leinster players, plus a number of coaches, that were on show last Thursday night as the province welcomed the public to their open training session at Terenure College RFC.

Hundreds of loyal fans braved the cold for the chance to see the Leinster stars of tomorrow learn their craft alongside the likes of Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Ryan Baird, All Black Reiko Ioane and double World Cup-winning Springbok RG Snyman.

22-year-old Mangan was unable to take part the session due to the injury that forced him to withdraw from the Ireland XV squad a few weeks ago. 

“I had to come off in the Edinburgh game having neuropraxia on my shoulder, so basically just the nerve in my shoulder shut down in the game after I got a bang on it,” Mangan told The Kildare Nationalist.

“So I still don't have full strength and power in my shoulder yet, and then in the meantime I got a scan on my foot which it turns out was actually broken and so I had been playing on that for a few weeks.

“Hopefully be back in about ten weeks’ time, that’s the timeline, but we’ll see if we can try and get back a little bit quicker and get a few of those league games in before the end of the season.”

The Sallins man was one of several Kildare players in Terenure for the open training session, including Will Connors, Jimmy O’Brien, Andrew Osborne, Tadhg Brophy, Todd Lawlor and of course, Mangan’s younger brother Ciaran.

“With Ciaran coming to the academy this year and getting to train with him, it’s class; doing the pre-season stuff with him and just seeing him every day,” the elder Mangan said.

“It was a bit weird at first, but then as the season has gone on, getting the chance to play with him in that Edinburgh game was just class. He made his first cap against Zebre, came on off the bench, but for the two of us to be starting together against Edinburgh - it was a proud day for both of us, for my family as well and hopefully it's something we can do again in the future and continue to do in the next few years.”

It has been a whirlwind 12 months for the Mangan family, with Diarmuid and Ciaran's brother Daragh captaining Sallins to the Kildare Intermediate Football Championship before going on to make his inter-county debut for Kildare. 

“Daragh's the favourite child in the house now. Everyone in Salins loves him now,” Diarmuid laughed. 

“It was unbelievable watching Salins in the, between the County Championship, to Leinster and all the way up to the All-Ireland. And Daragh being captain as well was class. And now he's kicked on with Kildare as well so he's been involved in the last few league games so hopefully he'll get a bit more game time with them. It's class for him and the club to see all the hard work he's put into the last few years paying off."

There is also a connection between the Mangans and the Prendergasts, with the two families brought together through their membership of the Irish Army. Diarmuid and Sam Prendergast are particularly close, having been at Newbridge College together, coming through the Leinster Academy together and playing on the same Ireland U20's team. 

“It's kind of similar to playing with Ciaran," Diarmuid said. "Me and Sam would have been friends since we were very young so like coming up through school with Sam, playing with him and then going all the way into Leinster with him and playing together - we're kind of best friends the last god knows how many years.

“So to play with your friends like that, lads you know and trust so well, it's class. And then seeing other lads from Newbridge come up like Tadhg Brophy, Todd Lawlor, Ciarán my brother and then Billy Bohan up in Connacht as well. You can see the teams that Johne (Murphy) has brought up through the last few years and how well they're doing now up at Leinster and the other provinces.”

The younger Prendergast has been under intense media and public scrutiny since his rise up the ranks at Leinster and Ireland, but Mangan believes his friend is well equipped to deal with the pressure. 

“Sam's such a strong character, I think he deals with that pressure very well. He kind of takes it in stride. You see some of the performances he's put in over the last two years or so in the Irish jersey, and I think like he'll continue to do well in that jersey for a long time to come."