Leinster vs Edinburgh

mark
hernan
THE ACADEMY
INTERVIEW
BY PAUL CAHILL
Like all
aspiring
rugby players
his age, Mark
Hernan’s
ascendency
through the
rugby ranks
came to a
shuttering
halt in
2020 due to
Covid-19.
Mark was a member of the
2020 Ireland U-20 side that had
already beaten Scotland, Wales
and England in the U-20 Six
Nations before the tournament
was abandoned.
But, unlike most players his age, Mark
Hernan had the foresight to recognize
the opportunity he had with the
unplanned extended break. After a
series of injuries during his school days,
Hernan seized the opportunity to hit the
gym, and build the size required for the
senior game.
“The first four months of lockdown I
enjoyed. It was a new experience,” says
the Leinster Academy back-rower.
“I was doing two good gym sessions a
day and eating a lot because I didn’t
have anything else to do. It came at a
good time for me. That transition period
after the U-20s, there is no intermediate
section, you’re straight into the AIL so it
was good to help me catch up and put
on that bit of weight I really needed.”
We have heard of Academy players
taking over back gardens and sheds
as they prepared their makeshift home
gyms, but the Hernan family were
particularly accommodating.
“Dave Fagan gave me a load of gym
gear which I set up in the kitchen. My
mum wasn’t too happy about it, but we
all got on with it!”
The Hernan family have a history
of accommodating Mark’s sporting
prowess, as parents Ray and Suzanne
drove him from venue to venue.
As a kid, he lined up for St Mary’s
RFC, Lansdowne FC, played golf in
Elm Park, soccer with St James’, cricket
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