Given the size of Ireland, you'd expect all the rugby talent in the country to be snaffled up and placed upon the conveyor belt right to the elite level. But still for some it isn't a linear path to the top. Just look at the likes of Tadhg Beirne and Oli Jager who only returned to these shores at the back end of their 20s. Another Irishman trying to forge a career overseas is Kildare native Cormac Daly and his path to the Queensland Reds has been unique to say the least.
Daly - a second row standing at 6ft 6 - was offered a contract last season and after impressing during the off season, he is now in line to make his debut off the bench for the Reds wearing the number 19 shirt in their SuperRugby fixture versus the Waratahs this Saturday. In doing so he will become the first Irishman to line out for the Reds in the competition since Munster's Peter Clohessy in 1997. The 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season kicks off this weeekend and the usual teams from New Zealand, Australia and Fiji will compete as well as Moana Pasifika, a team made up of the Pacific Island nations
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Daly, hailing from Kilcock played his club rugby with North Kildare before joining Navan. As his career developed with Leinster and Ireland he joined AIL side Clontarf. He managed a few caps for Leinster 'A' and was then drafted into the Ireland U20s in 2017 and played the U20 Six Nations in 2018. He first packed his bags and headed to Galway to join the Connacht academy, again only registering a few appearances for the 'A' side. However, he struggled to break through there and took up the opportunity to move to America with Major League Rugby side Rugby United New York in 2019.
With all the uncertainty surrounding Covid 19, Daly returned to Ireland and once again Connacht came calling offering him a short term deal due to a number of second row injuries in October 2020. However, that deal was not extended and he went back to Clontarf, playing an outstanding season of rugby in 21/22 winning the AIL Division 1A and its player of the year to boot. This gained the attention of Leinster and Leo Cullen included Daly in preseason of 2022 before selecting him for a friendly against Chile in November of that year.
For those not in Castle Avenue yesterday…..you missed Cormac Daly’s opening try (nominee for Try of the Season 👀)#WhoAreWe #EnergiaAIL pic.twitter.com/y4Sz0dXaAF
— Clontarf Rugby Club (@ClontarfRugby) December 5, 2021
However, that was as good as it got with Leinster and last year Daly made the decision to move hemispheres over to Australia. He then joined Randwick winning the Shute Shield and attracting interest from a familiar face, his former Ireland U20s coach and now head coach at the Queensland Reds Les Kiss.
Speaking on the RTE Rugby Podcast Daly spoke of his own unexpectedness at how things have turned out.
"It was a bit surprising for me,"
"Obviously, I came over to Australia last January, friends were coming over and I got a bit of employment here and was playing a bit of rugby over here.
"One thing led to another, and I signed a contract last October, and have been up [in Brisbane] since, straight into it, but I’ve been enjoying it. It’s been really, really cool, it’s something not many Irish people get to do so I’m trying to grasp it and just enjoy it."
2 February 2018; Cormac Daly of Ireland during the U20 Six Nations Rugby Championship match between France and Ireland at Bordeaux in France. Photo by Manuel Blondeau/Sportsfile
Daly, however, was unsure of his next move after being offered a contract.
"I definitely had to think about it. I was settled in Sydney, I had a great relationship with Randwick, so the fact that we won the Shute Shield probably made the decision a bit easier to head up, knowing I’d won it with them.
"We had just settled into Sydney and got this opportunity, and then sat and thought about it for a week or so. I spoke to my dad about it, and it was just too good an opportunity to turn it down.
"I just had to take it with both hands."
Daly was a dual player in GAA as well, and his club have wished well ahead of his possible debut this weekend.
Best of luck to Kilcock's Cormac Daly, who will make his Super Rugby this weekend for Queensland Reds against Warratah at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Cormac played with both our football and hurling teams from underage right through to Senior level.
Good luck Cormac 🇮🇪🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/aqEmXD397U— Kilcock GAA (@KilcockGAA) February 21, 2024
You can watch Daly's Queensland Reds v NSW Waraths this Saturday 24th February on Sky Sports Action, with kick off at 9:05am.
