![]() That was a 17-41 win in the British & Irish Cup for Leinster ‘A’ in front of 1,173 supporters in Castle Park.Ī long way from the bright lights of the RDS Arena of a Friday night.įor the record, the first squad which he togged was as follows:Įd Byrne was the captain on that day and when you look through that starting XV, seven of them have pulled on senior international jerseys since then, never mind senior club jerseys. A lot of guys that have moved on and are now with other clubs but also lads that have moved on and taken different paths but I remember them all. October 2017 and that was the day I fell in love with Leinster Rugby. Leinster ‘A’ and Doncaster Knights away from home. The first one was a Leinster Rugby ‘A’ game away from home. “I keep all the team sheets after every Leinster game so I hope that by the time I am finished it will be like an encyclopaedia of names and games and of course, great memories!” He keeps a track of them all and just in case he does forget, he has a copy of each team sheet kept anyway! His first 15, his first 23.Īctually, as it was Leinster ‘A’, it was a squad of 22, not 23.īut still. He can remember his first Leinster Rugby game and the first team that he togged. ![]() His actual phrase is “I togged him” and over the course of our conversation he mentions it a few times when addressing favourite moments or remembering special players. “Representing the rest of the players, representing their families, their clubs, their schools, you, me. This is a special place, with their brothers, and they will be the ones selected to wear that jersey today. ![]() ![]() “When they walk in, and they see it all there, it sets the scene for them. “It’s what they all want to wear at the end of the day, isn’t it? And whether it’s cap one or cap 200, it’s still special and so many have tried and not managed to achieve that so it’s very special to line it all out for the players. The list goes on and the dressing room is pristine.īut ask Jim himself and he’ll always come back to the one jewel in the crown for everyone in that dressing room the Leinster Rugby jersey. The tape for the physios and the doctors? The towels, the shampoo, the ice bags, the water bottles. Running around making sure that all is well in their world.Īre the cones where they need to be for the warm-up? Are the balls pumped? The bibs? Do the front row lads have the right studs? The jellies? Who likes jaffa cakes? He is easy to spot because more often than not he is the one looking after people. Keep an eye out for Jim on match day the next time you are in the RDS or the Aviva Stadium. In Leinster Rugby, he is called plenty of things, but his name is Jim Bastick. Doing the hard yards.īut, long before the first player has landed in the RDS Arena on match day, or even stepped foot on the turf in Rosemount in UCD during the week, there is one man getting there even earlier to make sure that everything is in place to make that player’s time on the field as efficient as possible.Įvery team has one, although they may go by different names. You will often hear it said about players in high performance environments, that they were the first player to arrive and that they then stayed long after the rest had gone home. In the latest feature on the Team Behind The Team, Marcus Ó Buachalla sat down to chat with the affable Laois man to hear about his own journey to this point and what his latest role in a high-performance environment involves. Jim Bastick served in the elite Irish Army Ranger Wing but he now brings all his military training and skills to his role as senior kit man with Leinster Rugby.
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