International Rugby Player to Join Micko's Revolution

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International Rugby Player to Join Micko's Revolution

Friday, March 9 2007

The prospects of Eric Miller playing in the championship for Dublin this summer are looking increasingly slim, but another former international rugby player is already playing a key role for his county this year.

He plays in the centre and his initials are BOD. Step forward Barry O'Donovan of Wicklow who follows in the legendary footsteps of Mick Galwey, Noel Mannion and Paul McNaughton by playing both inter-county football and international rugby.

Barry who? No, unlike Galwey, Mannion and McNaughton, or the other BOD, he doesn't have any Irish caps, but he does have an unusual claim to fame, having played international rugby for Austria.

The 30-year-old Blessington man lived in Vienna between 2002 and 2006, while working as a project manager at Blanchardstown-based manufacturing company Flextronics,

O'Donovan, who first broke onto the Wicklow senior team at the age of 18, joined a local rugby club shortly after. And during his final year in the Austrian capital, he represented his adopted country against Bosnia, Bulgaria, Luxemburg and Lithuania.

"Non-nationals have to be living in Austria for three years before they are eligible to play for the national team," explained O'Donovan. "So maybe I might have got a few more caps if I had been living there a little longer.

"I joined the Vienna Celtic rugby club because I was interested in keeping in good physical condition while I was away, and also with a view to meeting people," he explained.

"There are only six rugby clubs in the whole of Austria - three in Vienna and one each in Graz, Innsbruck and Linz," he explained.

"The standard of rugby is improving, but I'd say the national team would struggle to beat a good team in Division Two of the AIL."

O'Donovan made his debut for the Wicklow senior footballers in a league tie against Tipperary in November 1995 and was a regular on the team, generally at full-back or centre-back, until February 2002, playing under four different managers, Dave Foran, Niall Rennick, Moses Coffey and John O'Leary.

On his return to Ireland, O'Donovan played in last year's league games against Louth, Waterford and Tipperary, but work took him abroad again, ruling him out of the championship.

O'Donovan, who will be 30 this Sunday, received a call-up from Mick O'Dwyer before Christmas, and after being a sub in the O'Byrne Cup loss to Dublin, figured at midfield in all three league ties against Antrim, Cavan and Wexford.

"After losing against Cavan and Wexford, we desperately need to get back on track against Waterford on Sunday," he concluded.

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