Huge improvement in game has Toner reaching for stars
Devin Toner: determined to make a big impression for Leinster and Ireland
HE'S heard them all before. From "what's the weather like up there?" to "woah, is the circus in town?"to the rather rudimentary Irish observation of "Jeez, you're fierce tall aren't ya?"
What do you say in reply? "Ah, I'm wearing heels," or maybe you just nod and smile.
Devin Toner is well used to pedestrians doing double takes as he strides by and the constant references to his height. None of it bothers him unduly and it cannot be denied that he has put his six feet and 10 inches to good use professionally.
When lifting was legalised in rugby in the mid-1990s, leviathan second rows were suddenly obsolete and men such as England's Martin Bayfield and Wales' Derwyn Jones (both 6'10 like Toner) found themselves surplus to requirements as the line-out became a procedural source of possession.
Thankfully, though lifting remains, the element of line-out competition is back in force as coaches realise the value of turnover possession out of touch and charge their video analysts to work on the opposition.
Commendable
Toner's height makes it inevitable that the line-out is a central facet of the 23-year-old's make-up but, with the encouragement of Leinster head coach Michael Cheika and forwards coach Jono Gibbes, the other aspects of his game have come on hugely -- notably his ball-carrying duties where he has a commendable policy of taking the ball from depth when standing starts seem to be all the rage.
"It's one of the goals I've set myself, to try to get on the ball more and Jono has been working on it with me a lot. I do try to hit the ball with a bit of pace, you don't want to get the ball when there's a defender right in front of you and end up flopping to the ground.
"Another big area I'm working on is scrummaging, getting my back straight and getting down low and that comes into play in clearing out rucks as well. When you're that bit taller, you constantly concentrate on getting low."
Toner's physique has developed along with his game and he now weighs in at 120kilos (around 19 stone). It is a chassis that requires a large amount of fuel which he describes as "four or five Weetabix in the morning and a few big feeds throughout the day".
He is another member of the Leinster squad who disabuses the tired stereotype of a team of South Dublinites, having been reared in Moynalvey ("a church, a shop and a pub"), a tiny village in Meath close to the Kildare border.
Like every hamlet in Ireland, Moynalvey has a GAA team to represent it but, though the football club inevitably came calling, Toner admits it just wasn't his game.
"I played football in national school alright but went I went to Castleknock, it was rugby all the way. The club tried to put me in midfield once but I was a bit out of shape in my younger years and after one half, I knew I wasn't fit enough to do it."
Once in Castleknock, he came under the stewardship of former Irish international out-half Mick Quinn and his younger brother Charlie who were in charge of the senior team. Charlie's brief was to look after the forwards and the colourful former Lansdowne and Leinster back-row had a big influence on Toner's development.
"He's an interesting character sure enough," laughs Toner, "but though Charlie talked the talk as coach, he was also very hands on. He'd get stuck in, and show you how to ruck and maul and when you're that age you soak it all up.
"Castleknock wouldn't be one of the more powerful schools, they haven't won a cup since the 1950s or '60s (1965), but it was a good place to learn the game. You'd like to put something back and they were onto me to bring the Cup down and help out in training. I've never coached before in me life but I'll go in and give a hand out."
Though his school team struggled, Toner's potential was obvious and, having featured representatively on underage teams, he was brought into the Leinster Academy while also cutting his teeth in the AIL with Lansdowne.
He won his first Leinster cap with Jonathan Sexton off the bench against the (now defunct) Borders when he was still 19 but last season was his proper breakthrough.
Injury to captain Leo Cullen granted Toner regular starts next to Malcolm O'Kelly and he put in a series of impressive displays before giving way to Cullen for the final rounds of Leinster's successful Heineken Cup run. Though second row is one of the greatest areas of competition in the Leinster squad, last season gave Toner a taste for more.
"I have my work cut out for me this year. He (Cheika) told me I'm still going to get my share of games and that it's up to me then, he still has a lot of confidence in me, as he does in all the second-rows. And there's real quality in that area between Leo, Mal (O'Kelly), Nathan (Hines) and Trevor Hogan.
"You can see the competition in training, we're not beating the heads of each other but there's definitely an edge. You're doing line-outs against these guys and there's no way you're going to let them get your ball."
His former mentor has no doubt that Toner has the potential to make it at the highest level.
"Devin's a top man," says Quinn, who now coaches Lansdowne U-20s. "He had all the armoury and the right attitude. With his height obviously the line-out was going to be a big part of his game but he was good around the park as well. His work-rate was always excellent during matches and in training.
"There's a lot of competition at Leinster but he has talent and time on his side. The way it is these days, squads are changed around and Devin will get plenty of game time and I think he'll push through."
Engaging
Toner makes for easy-going and engaging company but when you follow up on a colleague's suggestion to ask him about his Grade 8 piano-playing (high enough to give lessons), he groans wearily.
"This came out when I was in Irish Schools and it's hounded me since. Even when we were over in Nice on pre-season, there was a supporters club thing going on and they were all: 'Ah Devin, give us a tune,' like I was Liberace or something.
"It's nothing, I just played a bit in school and got to a high enough level but I haven't played it in about five years. But it keeps coming up, I mean there was one Irish U-21 game where I gave a flick-up out of the tackle or something and one of the papers was on about 'gold-dust in his fingers'."
Ivory-tinkling aside, Toner does have the ball skills and all-round game to become a force at the highest level. And, beneath the laid-back exterior, there is drive and determination.
"I'm not going to look too far ahead but my main goal is to nail down a position with Leinster. I want to be first-choice lock to be honest and if something happens with Ireland, something happens."
As Toner makes his way from the Donnybrook cafe, the daintily-formed waitress throws him a startled look as the light is temporarily blocked out. The door closes behind him and she comes over to clear the table.
"Wow," she says, "he's fierce tall isn't he?"
- Hugh Farrelly
