New Welsh rugby signing served in RAF, suffered a stroke and played for England

Around the corridors of the Arms Park in the make-up to this season, the impact of their peaceful signings has continuously been heralded as a determined.

The likes of Ed Byrne and Josh McNally couldn’t be essentially the most glamourous of additions, but coming from fair environments in Leinster and Bath respectively has helped bring a peaceful stage of professionalism to the young community in the Welsh capital.

Make no bones about it, the likes of Byrne and McNally are here to play, but they’re also here to impart some wisdom and power standards. In the insular world of Welsh rugby, getting these exterior voices with varied life experiences in to present a peaceful point of view can simplest be healthy.

And few then have had the life experiences of McNally.

The affable ex-Bath lock has previously served in the RAF as a weapons technician, whereas he also obtained an England cap in 2021. That alone hands him a worldliness outlandish to anyone else at the Arms Park.

“I didn’t come through the traditional route of rugby,” he admits. “I joined the RAF at 18 and served six years and rugby started to get better and better for me.

“They allowed me to leave my primary position and dart and play at London Welsh at that time. They have been fantastic over the last 11 years. They have supported me moving around and even coming here they have been fully supportive of letting me play and crack on.

“It has almost allowed me to jump fully into rugby. There is always that niggle in the back of your head when are you going to stop and what are you going to do.

“I know I have always been able to transfer back to them. We play two games a year, against the army at Kingsholm and the navy at Northampton.

“It’s class to go back. It’s very different rugby, quite physical and slow. There used to be quite a decent pedigree of military guys in the pro game like Semesa Rokoduguni made a name for himself.

“Or not it’s somewhat nice to come back here and attain this but also say to the academy here if rugby does not figure out, here is a great pathway as well.

“Sometimes the academy system becomes so insular and appears to be the only way in. But there are other ways into the pro game.”

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Beyond his RAF experiences, if you’re still looking for the different perspective the lock can bring, then there’s also the fact that McNally’s career could so easily have been cut short seven years ago. While at London Irish, the second-row suffered a stroke after driving back following a match against Saracens.

It transpired that he had suffered a blood clot in his leg during the match at Allianz Park, with the clot then having travelled up towards his heart before leaking through the hole into the deoxygenated chamber.

Remarkably, he was back playing again before the end of that season, trying in vain to stop his club being relegated from the Premiership. Even now, the 34-year-old admits it was a scary experience.

“Clearly it was,” says McNally. “The main scary part was not knowing what it was.

“Having a stroke and coming through that pretty unscathed was pretty lucky. Stroke is a big word and you see people who don’t survive them.

“Coming by means of that, it was more the unknown of if I may per chance aid playing rugby, whereas you do not want them to maintain happening. However I think treasure any injury, you treat it by looking at what was the cause and can it be fixed?

“We were very lucky to work with great surgeons and specialists which gave me the confidence to go again. I’ve never really given it a second thought since.

“I came back within a few months. My wife mentions it each now and again, but I’ve by no means really opinion about it. I attempt to have that philosophy with most injuries. I moral have that mindset that I’m back to beefy-energy.”

Nonetheless, even after what happened back in 2017, McNally did not doubt he would carry on playing into his mid-30s. “I’ve always treated myself with the sense that I’ll go as long as I can go,” he said.

“I’ve played with players who are in their 30s and they start creaking. I’m not saying I’m not creaking, but I’m not waking up in the morning and thinking I don’t want to train.

“My body is in a fair place. I’m going to transfer as prolonged as I can. With a young family, when vast injuries happen, you attain quiz whenever you happen to want to maintain putting your self by means of it. However as prolonged as my body holds up, I’m going to maintain going till it says in any other case.”

He admits that, at Cardiff, he’s older than most – “apart from Rey (Lee-Lo)” – but it was a similar situation at the Rec, where McNally occasionally captained Bath.

His time at the Gallagher Premiership club witnessed their rise back towards the top of the league, with his final season coinciding with their run to the final. Now, they’re considered one of the favourites for the title this season.

That final year at the Rec, by his own admission, was a pressure-filled one as he sought a new contract. “I’m just loving my rugby,” he said. “Coming into my final year at Bath I put a lot of pressure on myself.

“I wanted to get another contract and I really had a tough year of not playing. People around you when you get to 34, start asking you questions like when are you going to retire and stuff but I don’t feel like I’m ready to.

“I had some really good conversations with Jockey and felt like I had something to give still.

“I had an opportunity to come here and honestly, it’s been the most refreshing period of my career. I’ve come, taken the pressure right off myself, and just enjoyed rugby again and that’s probably something that I’ve not done for a few years.

“I’ve come in and I’ve absolutely loved it. The boys have welcomed me in, understanding probably why I’ve come here and been embraced really well and I’ve absolutely loved it.”

McNally, brought into Cardiff to help nurture the young talent at the Arms Park, sees some similarities between his new club and Bath.

“There were some really young players at Bath that were going to become great things and I think you are starting to see that here.

“There were some guys that were probably pushed into it early last year, which is well documented and had great years and went on tour.

“There’s some really good raw talent at this club and it’s just going to be about growing that over time. Hopefully with the right people and a bit more experience that’s now come in, we can just help the squad develop and we start to see fantastic performances and multiple caps from them in the future.”

Teddy Williams is one such player, with McNally full of praise for his young second-row colleague.

“He is finished really well,” he said. “Capped so young and would have more if he hadn’t bought injured.

“He’s stepped into a leadership role with the lineout. He’s got a great head on him. He’s learning that people listen to him and he needs to step into that.

“He is bought great of us he can lean on. He is really working out what his skillset is in the lineout. He is a great athlete as well. he is been really spectacular and I’ve loved working with him.”