Mangan: "This game is a massive opportunity for us to try and put down a marker"

While it mightn’t necessarily be remembered as the most pivotal game in his career, Leinster’s BTK United Rugby Championship triumph over Zebre Parma at the Aviva Stadium on October 25 was a special one nonetheless for 22-year-old Sallins native Diarmuid Mangan.

For the visit of the Italians to Ballsbridge in round five of the URC, Mangan was named to start in a Leinster match day squad that initially featured five potential debutants. However, the number of newcomers was extended to six as a result of Max Deegan’s late withdrawal from the starting line-up to face Zebre.

Although Alex Soroka was promoted from the bench to replace Deegan in the eastern province’s back row, his spot amongst the replacements was subsequently taken by Mangan’s brother Ciaran. A member of the Ireland U20s side earlier this year, the younger Mangan is currently part of the Leinster Academy.

A 20-minute red card issued to Andrew Osborne ensured Ciaran made his Leinster bow with half an hour still to play against Zebre and with his elder sibling still on the field by this point, it proved to be a memorable occasion for the Mangan family.

“Ciaran was reserving. Obviously there was probably a slim chance he might get on [the match day squad], but I just said to him during the week ‘just make sure you know your stuff in case somebody does pull out’. In the warm-up, Deego pulled out, so then Ciaran had to come in,” Mangan recalled at a Leinster media briefing earlier this week.

“I kind of didn’t even realise he was coming in until I saw him on the pitch. It was pretty surreal for me and my family. Thankfully my parents, my brother and my granddad were all there at the game. So it was a nice moment for us.” This weekend is set to be another big one for the Mangan clan as another brother of Diarmuid's - Darragh - is the captain of the Sallins side that are due to take on Clara of Offaly in a Leinster intermediate club football championship semi-final at Cedral St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge on Sunday.

Yet before he has an opportunity to cheer on his brother in that particular contest, Diarmuid Mangan is placing his focus on this evening’s URC showdown with Dragons at Rodney Parade (kick-off 7.45pm).

Lining up alongside Brian Deeny, Mangan is in line to make his 20th senior appearance for Leinster. Given tonight’s clash in Wales is the first of 10 games in the space of just 64 days for the province, he recognises the need to seize every chance he gets to impress.

“Dragons game is Friday, first and foremost. Then obviously into Europe and then the inter-pro games over the Christmas period are always very exciting. Obviously the fans love them as well.

“Just for us as players especially, the lads that haven’t been away with the international team, this game is a massive opportunity for us to try and put down a marker. Try and maybe get involved in the European games and in the Christmas interpros.” Despite not being part of Andy Farrell’s main squad for the recent Quilter Nations Series (he was called into camp during the Six Nations Championship earlier this year), Mangan was on duty for the Ireland XV side that played Spain at Butarque Stadium in Leganes on November 8.

Coming on with 53 minutes on the clock, Mangan played his part as the Irish outfit claimed a 61-24 victory at the expense of the Spanish.

Even though it was a relatively short lead-in to what proved to be a one-off encounter in the November window, Mangan found his time with Ireland XV to be a worthwhile experience.

“It was good. I really enjoyed the week. It was good to go into a new environment. They probably see things slightly differently in some aspects than we do in Leinster, but I thought it was good. A good refresher and I enjoyed the week.

“The game when I came on, we were probably defending a lot and the Spanish were putting a lot of pressure on us, but I enjoyed the game. The atmosphere was quite good over there, it was a good test.” Along with his brother, Mangan is one of several former students of Newbridge College who are currently plying their trades in professional rugby. Back in 2020, Diarmuid and his present provincial colleague Sam Prendergast were part of a Newbridge side that qualified for a Leinster Schools Senior Cup final.

In the same year, Prendergast’s older brother Cian featured for an Ireland U20s team that secured a Six Nations Triple Crown before the Covid-19 pandemic ultimately brought their Championship odyssey to a halt.

Newbridge’s Senior Cup skipper in 2018, the elder Prendergast has adapted impressively to top level rugby and is now club captain of Connacht.

Both himself and his younger sibling Sam featured prominently for Ireland in their aforementioned Quilter Nations Series campaign this year and with another Newbridge alum in the shape of Jimmy O’Brien also an established figure in the provincial and international games, it is clear a lot of good work is going on in the south Kildare school.

“Definitely in my time, I think Johne Murphy would have had a big influence on me. He would have come in and would have been involved in a lot of professional backgrounds, in Leicester and Munster. He kind of brought a lot of stuff he knew there into Newbridge and really stripped it back,” Mangan added.

“I know Ciaran and the other lads like Todd Lawlor, Tadhg Brophy, Lee Fitzpatrick coming up, they all went through Johne as well. He seems to be having a big impact on those lads. Myself and Sam would really speak highly of him as well in that regard.

“I think in Kildare especially, there’s a lot of lads coming through and hopefully we’ll get more and more lads from Newbridge up in the Academy.”