LIKE the saying goes for London buses, ‘You wait ages for one – and then two come along at the same time!’, and the same can be said for West Cork and Munster fly-halves.
As one West Cork man, Jack Crowley, makes his strides with province and country, another one is hot on his heels.
Step forward, Dylan Hicks.
On the same weekend Crowley played his third Six Nations game in a row as Ireland’s No. 10 in the win against Wales, Bantry teenager Hicks (19) made his first senior appearance for Munster, coming off the bench in their 43-35 win over Harlequins last Friday.
It was a very proud day for Bantry RFC as they had three representatives on the field as brothers Fineen and Josh Wycherley also played in the friendly win over the Premiership side.
Munster Academy player Hicks helped Bantry win the Munster Clubs Boys’ U18 Cup in March 2023, two months after playing a part in Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí’s first-ever win in the Munster Schools Senior Cup. He gave his first interview as a member of the Academy recently, speaking on all things rugby.
‘I’m settling in well, to be fair. It's obviously a difference compared to last year, being in school. All the lads, in fairness, are very welcoming and they're all a bit of craic as well at the same time, so it's good,’ the young Bantry rugby star said.
Rugby has always been the main sport in the Hicks family with Dylan’s father, Damien, a prominent driving force in Bantry RFC, so it’s no surprise that he had a rugby ball put into his hands from the start. Dylan has had a fast rise to the top and has navigated his way through the underage ranks.
‘I played with the Munster U18 clubs’ team and on the U19s for the inter-pros the last two summers. I’ve also played with the Irish U18 clubs. That was a different kind of aspect again because you're in different camps, you have to learn lads names and things about them fairly fast,’ Hicks explained.
He doesn’t need to look too far for the biggest influences: his parents, Damien and Geraldine, who made the trip to the UK on Friday to watch their son make his first senior appearance for Munster.
‘Definitely, both my parents,’ he said. ‘My father's coached me a good bit underage, so he's given me a lot of useful tips and a good bit of feedback down through the years. And to be fair to my mother, the amount of miles she's put in, they’ve both been a great help in helping me get here.’
Looking ahead at his goals, as he integrates into the Munster set-up, Hicks is looking to get involved more in Munster’s base in UL along with eyeing up a place on the Irish U19s team.
‘Definitely getting more involved here in the HPC (High Performance Center) would be one. Then getting used to all these training sessions. In terms of making teams, hopefully I can maybe make the Irish U19s team, something like that would be huge.’
