Out of the fast lane

Cathal Barry speaks to rugby legend Tony Ward about faith, family and his recent battle with cancer

The usually clean-shaven and even baby-faced former rugby star turned pundit Tony Ward arrived for an interview with The Irish Catholic looking a little dishevelled.

Promptly excusing his grizzly appearance (not that it was needed), Tony revealed his new look was in aid of a cause very close to his heart.

As one of the front men for ‘Movember’, an annual campaign to raise awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, Tony was required to grow a moustache during the month of November.

This was just one of an array of men’s health awareness initiative’s Tony has embarked upon since a routine health check-up back in 2012 turned his life upside down.

Despite it confirming every man’s worst nightmare, he regrets in retrospect not going for that check-up even earlier.

“I first noticed I was going to the toilet more often. I noticed it, I was aware of it, but paid no attention to it. I assumed it was just nature taking its course,” he said.

Looking back on it now, he admits “alarm bells should have been ringing”.

Typical “macho man” Tony, however, had deemed himself “above any sort of vulnerability”.

Six years passed before he actually presented for that check-up and his doctor instantly noticed “something was up”.

Treatment

Tony was eventually diagnosed with an aggressive strain of prostate cancer and forced to undergo three different forms of intensive treatment.

“Thankfully now, two years on, it’s totally under control. I’m quite optimistic that I’m as close to being back to normal as I could be,” he said.

Eager to shift the focus away from himself, Tony stressed the “real story” lies in why he decided to go public with his illness.

“When you’re told you have any sort of illness, the natural thing is to retreat into a shell. We all do it. It’s a human thing. I did it.”

Tony’s decision to speak out was ultimately to see if “something positive could come out of the negativity” he was going through.

“The reason I did it was to get the message out to men to get checked,” he said.

The response Tony received has been an “enormous source of support” for him since.

Another vital support system Tony relied on throughout his battle was his Catholic faith.

Religion was “very much central” to his life as a child.

Brought up in Harold’s Cross, on Dublin’s south side, Tony served Mass at Mount Argus Church run by the Passionist Fathers and attended the Spiritan St Mary’s College in Rathmines.

Religion had a “profound influence” on him when he was young. However, like a lot of people, he “lost his way” later in life.

Acknowledging the abuse scandals were a “huge factor” in his fall off in practice, Tony admits it would be a “cop out” to claim they were the only contributing factor.

“There was also an element of laziness,” he conceded.

“I’ve never given up on my faith. I’ve never wavered on that at all but, living life in the fast lane, it was difficult to keep up with the practice of going to Mass regularly.”

Despite this, however, every time Tony was on tour or out of the country he “made a point of digging out” the nearest Catholic church. “It was like a magnet,” he said.

Tony doesn’t just pay lip service to religion either, he’s a man who’s clearly given his faith some serious consideration.

This is evident in the fact that he has always felt “uncomfortable” only turning to God when he needed Him.

Tony recalls contradicting “close personal friend” Fr Brian D’arcy, CP, after the priest had assured him that “God is always there when you need him”.

“Then you’re just using God for the wrong reasons. You’re are turning to Him on your own terms,” he said.

Mindful not to “drift back into the fast lane”, weekly Mass now helps keep Tony on the straight and narrow.

“Mass for me is a window of opportunity. I just find I am able to think and contemplate. It just puts me in a better place and makes me feel better.

“I haven’t missed it for years and I’m in a better place on the back of it,” he said.

Reflecting on his life, Tony admits he was “molly-coddled and spoilt rotten” in a house full of women growing up. He was an only child and lived with his mother and her sisters after his father died when he was just five-years-old.

In St Mary College, Rathmines, the Holy Ghost Fathers had a “big influence” on him.

He recalls in particular the influence of the late Fr James Hurley, CSSp, who used to emphasise that “at the end of the day, when all is said and done, you’re answerable to your conscience”.

It was an expression that would sail over the head of most teens and yet for a young Tony, it was one that “really registered”.

“It has lasted with me for life,” he said.

Despite going on to play top level international rugby, soccer was Tony’s “main sport” growing up.

Tony modestly admits he was “half decent” at the game. When pressed a little further, he reveals an exciting underage career playing for Ireland alongside the great Liam Brady and even being scouted by top English clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United.

So why not pursue such an avenue?

“I would have given anything to have been a pro-footballer,” Tony confessed.

His mother, however, wanted him to continue playing rugby and complete his ‘Inter-Cert’ (Junior Certificate) which he “really resented” her for at the time.

Tony eventually took up third-level studies at the National College of Physical Education (NCPE), which later became part of Thomond College of Education in 1976 and eventually became part of the University of Limerick in 1991.

“So, I guess in an indirect sort of way, I got to live my dream,” Tony observed.

As it happens, life in his “adopted city” Limerick, was “one of the best things that ever happened” him.

“In Limerick, I learned what life was all about. I had to fend for myself for once. I got much more than a college degree there. I got my degree on life.”

During a brief stint with Shamrock Rovers, Tony was eventually approached by the famous club, Garryowen, who coaxed him into concentrating on the oval ball. He never looked back.

Ward went on to play out-half for, among others, Munster, Leinster, Ireland, the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians.

When asked about his proudest moment in the sport, Tony concedes “the obvious one”: beating the All Blacks with Munster in 1978 on the “high altar” of Irish rugby, Thomond Park.

“It was a most emotional experience. After the game there were grown men crying. It was really something unique,” he said.

Having taught in St Andrews College, Dublin, for 12 years alongside his rugby commitments, Ward was eventually poached by the Irish Independent to provide full-time rugby coverage and analysis after the game turned professional in 1995 and has been doing so ever since.

Social interaction

In an effort to maintain the social interaction that he lost when he gave up teaching, Ward continued to coach. He became Director of Rugby in St Gerard’s College, Bray, Co. Wicklow, in 2002.

St Gerard’s is a “special place” for Ward and his family. He attends Midnight Mass at the school each Christmas Eve along with his four children; Lynn (31), Richie (30), Nikki (23) and Ali (18).

“I absolutely love Christmas. It’s a fabulous time of the year. It’s easy to really get into the spirit of it,” he said, adding that around all the festivities, Christmas is a time for “reflection”.

On that note, it would be remiss not to ask the expert to ‘reflect’ a little on Ireland’s powerful performances in the recent Autumn Internationals which saw them brush aside Southern Hemisphere giants South Africa en route to a stunning victory over the Wallabies. One also wonders what he makes of the side’s chances for the World Cup next year?

“Incredible. If ever it’s going to happen, its now,” he said.

Here’s hoping.