UCC’s Munsterman fighting for every break | Stephen Barry

     Perhaps it would be fair to say that the final six minutes of Munster’s Heineken Cup pool game against Edinburgh on Sunday best sum up Denis Hurley’s season so far, and indeed his career since the last time he scored a try for Munster on New Year’s Day 2011.

     With Paddy Butler bustling through the middle, Ian Keatley and Denis Hurley provided a 3 on 2 overlap. Hurley having burst a gut to get there waited for Keatley to straighten the line and spin the ball out for an easy run-in. However Keatley had other ideas and went to go around the last man himself only to be caught before the line. “It is a frustrating aspect,” says Hurley, with a terse laugh, as he briefly struggles to explain his try drought, “I suppose there are times there where I’ve come close in the last while, in the last couple of months even, and they just haven’t opened up as such. I just hope something will happen anyway.“I think tries sometimes just fall easy to people; some lads just happen to fall in the right place.” Indeed Keatley recycled to Seán Dougall who went over from close range for his second try in as many European appearances; Hurley has two in twenty-five Heineken Cup games, both in the 2009/10 campaign.That said, only minutes later and with Munster chasing a bonus point from deep in their own half, Hurley thundered through a weary Edinburgh defence to set up the endgame which saw Munster snatch an unlikely fifth point. “If I’m involved in setting up scores; if I make a half break and get an offload to someone and they score a try off of it, that’s for the team. It doesn’t bother me too much, as long as I’m getting those little bits done. You want to be winning as a team, not losing - scoring tries as an individual.”Indeed Hurley’s try drought hasn’t damaged his willingness to try to make things happen on the field, especially under Rob Penney’s more expansive new gameplan. “To be honest I love getting ball as well because it gives me a chance of getting into a game and having a go at players.” At one stage on Sunday the Sky Sports commentator remarked at Hurley’s keenness to get on the ball: “Hurley clapping his hands, he wants it; and he gets it...”Perhaps an even greater frustration for Hurley has been the battle off the field, to nail down a spot in the Munster first fifteen. Hurley’s first stint as a starter came just in time for the 2008 quarter-final against Gloucester, where he was thrown in at the deep end, but set up the only try of that game and held his position for the remainder of that tournament, ending up with the Heineken Cup in his hands.However Paul Warwick came along and took the number fifteen jersey off of Hurley’s back, as did Felix Jones in more recent times. This has led to Hurley becoming more interchangeable with the wingers to secure extra game-time.Only a minute into our conversation on his ‘down-day’ last Thursday, Hurley brings up “the tough side” of rugby – a side he’s all too familiar with.Having started every league game which he was fit for, Hurley was dropped for Munster’s Heineken Cup opener away to Racing Métro. “It’s a hard thing to say too much… I mean whatever job you’re doing you want to be part of the final project or whatever it is. But to be told, you know, listen, step aside, there’s someone else we want to put in instead of you; it’s always a hard thing to take. You feel yourself that you are good enough and that you have the skillset to produce what they want. But that’s a management decision and there’s not much you can do about it really.”That side of the coin means that Hurley has mixed feelings seeing Jones coming back from injury. “I think the two of us have known each other for the last five or six years and we have a knowledge between the two of us, that one is going to be in and the other is going to be out at the moment. It’s good to see him coming back but obviously that puts pressure on me to perform and hold my spot.”Writing in Saturday’s Irish Independent, David Kelly hinted at a general consensus of Hurley as a more defensive full-back option: “Denis Hurley slots into the full-back role but the presence of Felix Jones and the exciting JJ Hanrahan on the bench, dare we say it, invites the prospect of a bonus-point chase.”Such suggestions irk Hurley, who has full confidence in his own style of attacking and his own ability to stress defences. “Look, I’ve been told I’m a defensive full-back before, I don’t believe that because I have quite a good attacking ability. I would hope that I see certain situations evolving and I can produce what’s needed to expose those. Felix has his skillsets but I suppose we’re just two different types of players.”All the same, Hurley understands that management may perceive different strengths which would suit games against varying opposition styles. “There are certain games where there might not be a huge amount of space; I think I might carry a bit stronger than Felix. But Felix then, if there’s more space he’s going to be more able to make use of it and he’s a dangerous player. We both have our own skillsets and it’s just a matter of who’s suited to what, or how the management are seeing how we’re playing and how they feel they want to select the team.”Hurley can be happy with much of his impact in attack on Sunday. Edinburgh conceded a penalty which Keatley converted after a Hurley run and an excellent kick, chase and tackle by Hurley led to another three. He managed another successful kick chase and will be particularly pleased with an early second period offload, an aspect of his game which he has worked on evolving. A smattering of strong runs and a defensive clean sheet will also satisfy him.However another inconvenience for Hurley came with the relegation of UCC to Division 2A of the All-Ireland League. Having returned to play for the college last year, a new rule means that contracted players can’t play in the lower two divisions, signalling an end to Hurley’s time playing in the Mardyke.“It’s disappointing I suppose because when I came to Cork first, it was where I started playing and I’d have great support for what they’re doing. It’s a tough team to get right because they’re so young and they lose so many players by the age of 21 or 22.”Not only did the college academy prove the crucial “building block” for Hurley with regard to weight and nutrition programmes, it was where he got switched from centre to full-back. No wonder then that the man who earned his rugby stripes in the UCC hoops, retains a special place in his heart for his natural home club.