Jack Conan can always reflect on being an ever-present on two successive British & Irish Lions tours, but as the 2026 Six Nations looms into view with Thursday night’s opener in Paris, he is back in his happiest place.
Many would regard his achievements as a two-two Lion the pinnacle of their careers but while they will always be special to him, his greatest joy is playing for Ireland.
Conan articulated why this is so for him and others to a small contingent of the Irish media at their base in The Campus in the Algarve when discussing the oft-debated question of a post-Lions hangover.
For many, Conan included, this was compounded by going into the November Test window lacking match sharpness. Indeed, for Conan, the game against the All Blacks in Chicago was his first match since the Lions’ third Test in Australia three months previously.
“Well, physically, because I didn’t get a run out pre-November and then went straight into the internationals, that was quite difficult.
“As much as I was trying to tell myself I’m ready, I’ve trained well for the few weeks leading up to it, it’s very difficult to go and have no game time and then straight to the internationals.
“On a personal level, I probably felt mentally maybe just not as sharp as I could have been. I was disappointed in how I performed in some of those; not entirety of games, but moments within the game, things I backed myself on probably weren’t at the level they need to be for this group. That was disappointing on a personal level.
“Mentally, playing for the Lions is great and it’s not something I ever thought I’d do, but if I was given the opportunity, if I had to pick playing for Ireland or making the Lions tour, it’s playing for Ireland.
“It’s the greatest joy, I think, for everyone to be part of this group. It’s an incredible honour to play for the Lions, but for me, playing for Ireland, it doesn’t get any better than that. It’s the thing you grew up thinking about, wanting.
“To be here now, to be living this dream is unbelievably special, whereas the Lions is not something I ever thought I’d do. Incredibly special, but I’d never looked much further than being in a green jersey.
“I don’t think mentally I felt a bit of a slump or anything like that, or there wasn’t a lack of motivation coming into November. It was probably just physically a little bit not at the level I would have liked to have been.”
Ireland’s Jack Conan comes up against Julien Marchand of France. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Now 33, Conan still has the same sense of thrill about being in the Irish environment as he’s ever had.
“I try to take nothing for granted. I’m playing in the backrow – how many unbelievable backrowers are there across the country? Young lads coming up, you see Bryn Ward training there today. He’s been great, he’s like a duck to water out there.
“Obviously, lads injured at home who can’t be here, or other young lads. You look at Brian Gleeson, James McNabney up north, who’s injured and hopefully back soon in the next couple of weeks. Great players.
“When you get a bit older, you can never take it for granted because there’s always that cohort of lads that are coming behind you. Obviously, established lads here, Bryn and the likes getting their first experience of it as well. If you don’t make the most of it, there’s always someone waiting in the wings.”
Despite making his Test debut against Scotland in a pre-World Cup game in August 2015, entering the 2021-22 season Conan had only won 20 caps, since when he’s had anther 35 in the last four-and-a-half seasons.
“Years ago, it was 2016 or 2017 and I was talking to a mate of mine and he was like, ‘If you retired in 10 years’ time, how many Ireland caps do you think you’d be happy with?’
“I was like, ‘Jeez, if I got 20 caps it’d be unbelievable’ because I think at that stage I’d probably had two or three maybe. Do you know what I mean? I’d been in and out of camp for years but I hadn’t probably taken my opportunities well enough and I hadn’t been there consistently week-in, week-out.
“So to fast forward a few years and I’ve played 55 times for Ireland, which is unbelievably special. I’m still looking to add to it and get better in here and train hard and I’m fortunate now, my body feels good, the body of work from the last few weeks with Leinster, so I feel match fit. I’m excited for the next few weeks.”
That said Conan and co are jumping in at the deep end when taking on the champions and favourites in the Stade de France next Thursday night (kick-off 8.10pm Irish time).
Ireland had won of their best wins in the corresponding Friday night opener two years ago in Marseille, when Conan said they learned the lessons of their defeat in Paris 2022, when they were a little fazed by post-Covid sense of occasion.
Jack Conan in the Portugal training camp. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
That was the third Championship in a row when the Ireland-France game was effectively a title decider between the top two in the table. Although Ireland finished third behind England on points’ difference last season after allowing them a late bonus point on the opening weekend at the Aviva Stadium, much the same applied last season when France came to Dublin and thumped Ireland 42-27 in round four.
“We haven’t looked at it yet, but I think more than anything else, it was just the physicality,” said Conan when explaining the reason for that damaging day.
“We probably let ourselves down a little bit. A lot of the one-on-one collisions, just giving them easy metres. We know they want to keep the ball alive and if you aren’t winning collisions, it’s very easy to throw it offloads and things like that.
“You’re not getting any time in the tackle. You’re not getting a point of reference for your defensive set-up to actually get up off the line.
“If you let them get over the gain line and you’re missing collisions or you’re a bit slow and they’re on the front foot, you’re constantly backtracking and it’s very difficult to get off and shut them off.
“We haven’t spoken about it yet, but I know the lads who played last year will obviously have that fresh in their mind.
“I don’t think they’ve changed a whole lot in how they want to play. They’ve probably gotten better at it since then even. It’ll be a big challenge for us defensively.”
“We haven’t stoked that fire yet,” said Conan, who was speaking last Thursday. “A lot of the provinces defend quite similar to Ireland. Obviously, Leinster’s is a little bit different, but there’s just refreshing and going again because defensively we felt like it’s probably the area of the game where we have the most growth in us that we want to get better at.”
Although France have won five of the seven Championship in a post-Lions season and are 13-point favourites to win on Thursday, Conan and co can take encouragement from having beaten France in the recent past.
“Irish people as a society and as a country probably like being the underdogs a little bit,” he adds. “We know it’s going to be unbelievably tough, but we back ourselves against anyone. It’s a great opportunity between now and then to continue to get better and to put out a good performance out on opening night.”