Fineen Wycherley – “You Just Knew He Was Destined For A Little Bit More”

In the space of a week, Fineen Wycherley followed fellow Munster and West Cork man Gavin Coombes in making his senior international debut earlier this month.

Those 23 minutes against the USA at the Aviva Stadium, which included the much welcome return of supporters, was the result of years of dedication, graft and an unrelenting attitude to improve.

It is these qualities, and many more, which are constantly referenced and reiterated when speaking to those who played a role in the 23-year-old’s development.

Fineen Wycherley and Gavin Coombes during Ireland’s win over USA
©INPHO

It all began at Bantry Bay RFC. At the time, the club had an adult team but no underage section. Eugene McCarthy, who is now a Rugby Development Officer with Munster Rugby, was one member of a group alongside Wycherley’s father, Florence, that set up an underage section back in 2006.

This allowed Wycherley, his siblings and other children in the Bantry area an opportunity to take up the sport.

“It was a case of building a lifeline for the club and a connection into the community and to get home-grown players,” McCarthy told Munster Rugby.

“I remember the first session, there was only four players and at this stage now they have a couple of hundred at underage. They have Minis and Youth and Adults all the way for both boys and girls. So, it’s come a long way in a short period of time.”

McCarthy has extensive coaching experience with his current role as a Rugby Development Officer and previously when he worked as a Club & Community Rugby Officer for the West Cork region. He’s also coached the province’s representative sides at interprovincial level. As such, he is well-placed to determine the qualities which are needed in young players in order for them to go on to bigger things.

“The one thing I’ve found over the years dealing with lads and ladies in development squads is that you have to have application and you have to have self-motivation.

“I think the one story about Fineen which really stands out to me, he was playing with Bantry, I think it was under-15 level and he broke his wrist during a game on a Saturday night. Arriving at the gym, which they would do on a Monday evening, with his hand in a cast, (he was) wondering what else could he do in the meantime now knowing that he can’t work with this! ‘What else can I do? Just give me a programme so I can keep going.’

Rugby Development Officer Eugene McCarthy ©INPHO

“From an early age, that drive was there. That self-analysis and that self-motivation I see as the standout for players who go on to play at a high level.”

This drive that McCarthy mentions exists in all aspects of the sport for Wycherley, not just when it comes to injury recovery.

“When he finds something he can’t master, it’s a case of, right, it doesn’t faze him, it’s how can I adapt myself to grow this skill or improve myself? It’s always that growth attitude. That has really stood him well from a young age. It doesn’t surprise me that he managed to cap that off now with an Irish cap.”

McCarthy added:

“That’s something we would have tried to push with the players from a young level. Self analyse yourself both as a person and as a player and see where you can adapt and improve and find windows of improvement. For Fineen, it didn’t take a whole lot of prompting. That would have followed through. I remember getting phone calls on the way home from games and he’d be (discussing) something he would have come up with and thought of, ‘What can we do here to push this on?'”

Wycherley took the next step in his development when he followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by attending Cistercian College Roscrea for his senior cycle of secondary school. Located just inside the Offaly border, they compete in the Leinster Schools Cup competitions and Wycherley enjoyed a successful few years there as he helped the school to a historic senior title in 2015 before reaching the final again in 2016.

Fineen Wycherley during the Leinster Schools Senior Cup Semi-Final against Newbridge College in 2015 ©INPHO

Robert Dempsey, who coached Wycherley during those few years, recalls a story about the West Cork man which illustrates his attitude and work ethic.

“I was cleaning out some stuff at home and I found a questionnaire that we gave out to the lads and Fineen handed his back,” Dempsey said.

“I actually took a picture and I sent it on to him. It was quite funny. There was a little box for their strengths and their weaknesses. Most of the lads had one (line) put into each of the boxes and Fineen just had all the boxes full and outside the boxes full. There was feedback for us as coaches and that was completely full. He had the page completely full for feedback and those kinds of things. That was just his attention to detail and his dedication.”

Looking back on Wycherley’s time with the school, Dempsey admits that he was always one of the first names on the team sheet due to his engine and his ability to get around the pitch. He also recalls how the Cork man grew into a leadership role and became a primary ball-carrier when it came to defending their title in 2016, something which their opposition in the final, Belvedere College, had highlighted.

“He was one of the first names down on the page. He just kept pushing and pushing. Around the field, his engine, it’s just work rate. His ability to get around the field. To do that dog’s work. Just getting stuck in. If we were doing lineouts, he’d want to know everything about them and understand them.

“From an early enough kind of stage, we knew Fineen was a special lad. First of all, when you’re talking to a player and you’re looking up at him it can be daunting and he’s a 17-year-old. You just know he was destined for a little bit more. Certainly, his attitude was always something that was going to take him places and his work rate.”

Dempsey added:

“In his first year, he was a quiet kind of a chap. But anytime he spoke it was with meaning and it wasn’t just to spout out a bit of rubbish, it was to say something that mattered. I suppose that’s something that would always catch my eye.

Fineen Wycherley celebrates at the final whistle of the 2015 Leinster Schools Senior Cup final ©INPHO

“He definitely developed and he was one of the leaders in that second year when we got to the final again. He was a huge part of that team. A huge ball-carrier for us. Looking back at it, they definitely targetted Fineen as one of our big ball carriers. That upset us in that final. I suppose that’s a bit of a credit to Fineen as he was the guy that was picked out to upset a bit on our side. He did, he got hammered that day from all angles but still, he stays working and working and working.”

That same year, Wycherley was also thriving with his province. He made his Munster A debut while still in school and he also won a Munster U19 interprovincial championship.

As he entered the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy after his final year in school, Wycherley lined out for Young Munster RFC in Division 1A of the AIL, further developing his rugby education.

Young Munster head coach Gearoid Prendergast recalls being immediately impressed with the youngster from Coomhola.

“This was a guy that was very developed physically, a very impressive man,” Prendergast said.

“He has a really good personality, very outgoing and huge hunger to succeed, develop and he knew exactly what he wanted. I remember him telling me that first year, he had clear goals in his head of what he wanted to achieve in terms of playing for Young Munster, playing Irish 20s and really starting to impress at Academy level. So he was very clear in his mind what he wanted to do straight away. He wasn’t waiting around, he was willing to whatever extras he needed. He did that and fair play to him.”

Those goals were reached as Wycherley represented Ireland U20s during the 2017 Six Nations and World Championships that following summer. He also made his senior Munster debut while still in the Academy before winning Academy Player of the Year in 2018 which was all the more impressive considering he was injured for a large portion of that season, a testament to his professionalism.

Fineen Wycherley receiving his Academy Player of the Year award in 2018 ©INPHO

Similarly with McCarthy and Dempsey, Prendergast highlights Wycherley’s desire to improve and get better as something which really stood out.

“It was easy to recognise his credentials early on and a really, really good attitude. An insatiable appetite for work and for learning and for wanting to learn more. Really intelligent questions. That’s what impressed me the most about him at a young age, he was always asking the right questions at the right time.”

The transition to adult rugby can be a challenging one but Prendergast admits that Wycherley handled that very well as he remembers a standout performance from the second-row during their march to the Division 1A semi-finals.

“As I mentioned, when lads come out of school they need that year but Fineen hit the ground running. I remember a day up in Lansdowne on a cold December day just before Christmas. We were near the top of the league and Fineen was just outstanding that day. Very abrasive, starting showing lineout credentials, very strong defender as well, a massive work-rate. We had a really good year that year, we made the All-Ireland League semi-final.

Prendergast continued:

“He was really, really good that season. The following season, we saw a little less of him and as you know, he started really breaking through into the senior team (with Munster) and he hasn’t looked back.”

For Prendergast, work rate is one aspect of Wycherley’s game that stood out but it was his overall holistic approach to being a professional rugby player which was really significant.

“The big thing I’d say about Fineen is his work rate and his engine. But his ability to get around the park, he’d always have a very high tackle rate, rarely injured. He looked after himself really well. He just had a very strong sense of purpose and had a very good idea of what it took to be a professional rugby player. So he really looked after himself on and off the pitch. I suppose it was kind of that broader, holistic piece that stood out to me with Fineen rather than any one part of his game.”

With 62 senior appearances for Munster and a senior international cap under his belt, the future is looking bright for the 23-year-old. As with any player, a lot of credit must go to the volunteers and parents who sacrifice so much during those early years to get their children to training and to matches.

Fineen Wycherley celebrates with Tadhg Beirne
©INPHO

“It’s a proud moment for the club absolutely but it’s a very proud moment for their families,” Prendergast concludes.

“I was particularly delighted for them because they’re the ones putting in the time, driving them here there and everywhere as young kids.”

For McCarthy, he has experienced first-hand the growth of Wycherley and many others from the West Cork region as they develop through the Munster pathway. He believes that a lot of that success can be attributed to something simple but that shouldn’t be underestimated – community.

“Throughout West Cork, there are some great people involved there. I’m gone from the club 10 years, I still jump in and out to help out with sessions because I’m a development officer. West Cork is part of my area. I consistently see that on the ground all over West Cork.

“The drive by coaches and the people on the ground to help out the kids. To progress as far as possible. There’s great community involvement. It’s not by accident. A lot of these areas are beginning to show gems because there’s great community involvement and there’s great support for the kids in general and for all sports, not just in rugby.”