Herring: ‘You can have an impact on someone’s life’

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The Irish rugby team have been all business this week as they gear up for Saturday’s first Test in Pretoria, but Andy Farrell’s squad took time out of their schedule on Wednesday to run a skills session with some local teenagers.

Upwards of 20 of the Irish squad, among them captain Peter O’Mahony, Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan spent time at their training base with teenagers from the School of Hard Knocks programme.

The School of Hard Knocks, which is supported by the Irish Embassy in Pretoria, works with vulnerable teenagers, and uses sport as a vehicle to teach them about mental health and positive masculinity.

Roughly 50 teenagers from the Alexandra township near Ireland’s Sandton team base mingled with the players, and were put through their paces in a skills session, while the players also engaged in a private conversation the group of U19s players about their understanding of masculinity.

“You can have an impact on someone’s life and make a difference,” Ireland hooker Rob Herring told RTÉ Sport.

“We’re only going to be here for a short period, but to see smiles on people’s faces, and if we can share a story or two with the kids here to make a change in their life, it’s such a positive thing to do. It’s a real privilege to be able to do that.”

The Ulster hooker grew up in Cape Town, where the School of Hard Knocks was originally founded, before moving to Ireland as an adult.

And he believes being a role model to others is a rewarding aspect of representing Ireland.

“As I’ve got older, I think you start to take that a lot more seriously.

“We speak about it in Ireland, we’re always trying to inspire young kids and inspire the nation.

“The Springboks would probably be their idols, and for us to come down, even if we can inspire a few kids to try take rugby seriously, and all the work the foundation is doing around mental health and gender-based violence. If we can be a positive role model in any way, then why not come down to try it out.

“South Africa is a country of a lot of different backgrounds, cultures, and all amalgamated into one. It’s just a special place.

“I think because rugby has been a bit of symbol of change in South Africa, going back to the 1995 World Cup and Nelson Mandela. I think that’s why it’s probably been grabbed upon in the last two World Cups, the Springboks going back-to-back. It just gives people in the country a bit of hope,” he added.

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