‘The game’s all about the impacts … I’d never last as long if I started out today’

Gordon D’Arcy’s ferocious commitment to self-improvement has kept him at the top at the rugby game and tomorrow in LINEOUT magazine, published with the Irish Independent, the Ireland and Leinster centre admits that his “career would never be this long if I was starting today”.

“The game is more physical, more confrontational and it is much more. . . not aggressive, but gladiatorial and about the impacts.”

Standing 5ft 11ins and 14st 4lbs, D’Arcy, 34 and first capped by Ireland in 1999, punches well above his weight. His longevity is largely down to how well he looks after himself off the field, he believes.

“The older you get, the more you have to change your game. You have to tailor your game differently, rely on your wits rather than your brawn and you just stick around.

“I am not going to play forever, so I want to win as much silverware as possible. Doing all the little bits and pieces are the little add-ons and building blocks that you build your season on……… see more at :- http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/the-games-all-about-the-impacts-id-never-last-as-long-if-i-started-out-today-30704067.html