CIAN Hurley wants to make up for lost time and kickstart his Munster rugby career.
The Clonakilty rugby star is back in action after being sidelined for almost 12 months with a ruptured achilles suffered during Munster training in March 2023. It came weeks after Munster Rugby announced Hurley was being promoted to the senior squad for the 23/24 season after three years with the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy. Just when he was starting to make waves, his progress was stopped in its tracks.
‘It happened just randomly. It was the Friday before the squad were heading off to South Africa to play the Sharks in Durban,’ Hurley recalled.
‘We went through our usual drills and it was towards the end we were doing a defence block. I was running the attack. Whatever way I stepped back to push off, I just got it wrong and I ruptured my achilles in the process. It was an expensive step back.’
Instantly, he realised he was in big trouble.
‘I knew it was bad,’ Hurley said.
‘You could hear the pop when it went. Lads standing around me could hear it too. You just know then it's serious. I hit the deck straight away. I was carried off the pitch, brought inside and the physios took a very quick look at it. They knew within five seconds that it was fully ruptured.’
His season was over, and he knew he was facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines. The South African born second-row, who has lived in Clon since he was 13 years old, didn’t have to wait long for surgery, and the day after was the start of his comeback that eventually culminated with a start against Harlequins in an exhibition game at the end of last month.
‘The surgeon told me it was as if a rope had frayed. Almost like an explosion in my achilles. It was so bad that my calf was actually sitting behind my knee. It had stretched that much, so he had to pin it back down, and just basically stitch it all back together,’ former Ireland U20 international Hurley explained.
‘The morning after the operation, they get you up weight bearing, and there's a bit of pain involved in that, but it's needed to actually flush out things. I was in the boot for maybe six or eight weeks, learning to weight bear slowly. Then you come out of the boot and you go into shoes, but you're still on crutches, and you've kind of got a step inside the back of your shoe to keep your heel raised.
‘Your achilles is shortened, but your heel is in a shortened position so you still have power through it when you're back. The process of just being able to walk comfortably was the slowest part; it was probably two or three months before I was able to do that in a comfortable manner. That was before being able to really push off it or think about jogging or anything like that.’
Cian Hurley has made five appearances for Munster, including four last season.
For a sportsman used to being active, adjusting to a slower pace had its challenges.
‘I watched loads of Netflix, from the Walking Dead to Drive to Survive. I read a few books too, like Gunther Steiner's which gave an insight into the F1 season,’ Hurley explained.
‘Probably the bit of advice for anyone going through a long-term injury is it's slow and people will tell you it's slow, but it's accepting that. But after the first three months, it accelerates and the next thing you know, you're running. It's that first block though which is the toughest. My physio, Ray McGinley, was brilliant. He really looked after me and he made the whole process enjoyable. It wasn't really a burden going in every day.’
In Hurley’s absence Munster went on to defeat the Stormers in the 2023 URC final played in Cape Town in May 2023, capturing the side's first piece of silverware in 12 years. Looking on from home, Hurley was delighted with his teammate's victory that had West Cork fingerprints all over it – his housemate John Hodnett was man of the match, Jack Crowley, Gavin Coombes and Josh Wycherley all played too – but it was a tough one emotionally to digest.
‘Obviously, I was delighted. It had been a long time since we won a trophy in Munster. Being injured is a funny one though, it's totally out of your control,’ the Munster second-row said.
‘The biggest part is accepting that when you're not picked, there's a reason behind it because it's in your control as to what you need to do to fix it or get better, but when you’re injured there’s nothing you can do. It was more just the frustration of not actually being able to be a part of that. Not even being able to just travel with the squad was heartbreaking.’
Living with Shane Daly and John Hodnett in Limerick, Hurley is closest with the two men who combined for the try that clinched the URC title for Munster. Seeing them succeed on the pitch filled him with pride but there’s also that personal aspect of wanting to be involved.
‘I'm very close with them so I was thrilled when they had such a big involvement in the outcome of that game. Shane set up John for the try to win it, but a part of you is saying “I wish I was there”,’ the former Clonakilty RFC player said.
‘It’s almost as if a part of you is taken from you when you're injured. It's everything you know. It's our full-time job. It’s our lives. It affects you in a few ways, and you've mixed emotions. You're obviously thrilled and you're wishing everyone well and you're also selfishly saying I’d have loved to have been involved in that.’
Before Hurley got back into the Munster jersey, he had a run out with Garryowen in the AIL to test out the ankle and blow out a few cobwebs. He was a sore man the morning after his first game in almost a year.
‘I played 50 minutes with Garryowen. Waking up the Sunday morning after that game, I knew all about it. You'd feel every hit, every tackle, every run. You'd feel everything. But that set me up quite nicely to get back with Munster. It gave me a lot of confidence in myself and in the work that I'd done while being injured,’ he said.
Next up was his comeback game for Munster away against Harlequins in an exhibition game at the Twickenham Stoop last month. Munster won 43-35 and Hurley got 77 minutes under his belt.
‘To put back on the Munster jersey was some feeling,’ he remarked.
‘The Stoop is a great venue too. Getting back from injury, getting back into the team, and obviously, the way the scoreline went as well, it couldn’t have gone any better.’
Even though he had to sit at home on the couch in Clon for long stretches during his rehab, Hurley used all that time off to his advantage for his return to the pitch. He feels that his game is even better now than before his injury and is ready to push on with the province into the future.
‘All I've had is time to think, the last nine or ten months, and over that time I was kind of using it to my benefit,’ he said.
‘I used that injury block to really go after some aspects of my game. I couldn't run but it was a big opportunity for me to work on my skills and add a few strings to my bow. Once I got back I've seen the rewards of that already through training. I feel like I have a better understanding of the game.
‘It’s all about being competitive in training now and putting my hand up as quickly as possible to show that I am back and I'm ready to take that next step.’
Hurley’s back and with a point to prove – that’s good news for Munster rugby.
