Thanks to Jack Walsh

Titans fly half Jack Walsh joins Richard Kitzinger to look back over his season with Taunton.

At the start of the season two young half-backs arrived on loan at Veritas Park from Exeter Chiefs. The contribution of Sam Maunder and Jack Walsh to the opening weeks was significant, wins secured at Darlington and Leeds tell only part of the story. Then (former Titan) Stu Townsend was injured and Maunder was recalled to Sandy Park. Walsh has played a big part in Taunton’s first season in National League One and, as the last few weeks of the season approach, it felt like a good time to catch up with the Australian fly half.

Jack’s wearing a moon boot though. He hobbled through the last few minutes of Exeter’s recent Premiership Cup game against Worcester but the injury has brought his season to an early conclusion. “It’s a high ankle sprain,”he says, revealing that he’s booked in for surgery this week. Which means, of course, that we sadly won’t see him running out for the final three home fixtures.

He's philosophical when it comes to his reflections on the season. “It was a perfect opportunity for someone in my position to be playing as much rugby as possible,” he says. “When I came into Taunton for the first time, pretty much everyone else was working different jobs and training two late nights a week. Their enthusiasm to play the game really motivated me to get stuck in. Instead of being down about not playing in the Chiefs every week, I only had to look at how excited these guys were to play. It picked my enthusiasm right back up.”

When he thinks back to his first games for Titans, Jack is grateful that he had his housemate Maunder alongside him. “We do everything together. I spend 24/7 with that kid so little stuff on the field made sense to us instinctively. We’d pre-empt what each other’s going to do.” Coming into anew team as a 9/10 axis together made things a lot easier for both of them.

“He’s killing it, playing well” says Walsh about his buddy’s elevation to the Exeter starting line-up. “Just don’t bring it up at family dinners in front of [Sam’s older brother] Jack!”

Asked about the game in which he suffered his ankle injury,Walsh focuses on the Chiefs debuts for Sam Prior and Sam Leworthy who were both on loan from Taunton. “It was unreal for those guys to get a crack and have a game at the Chiefs. They both did Taunton proud.”

Jack’s ambitions in the game are shaped by his experience of leaving Australia just before the global pandemic. He jokes, “I don’t know what I’m doing next week to be honest,” but says that he’s seeking a few more seasons of experience at the top level with the immediate challenge of getting“a regular spot in a match-day 23.”

There are no immediate plans to head back Down Under as he“loves it here, love the life – I’m going to be here for a fair bit.” He’s not even planning to head home during the close season, preferring to do his rehab inthe UK and go on a few trips to Europe.

His answer to the question of which rugby player he looks up to draws an interesting answer. He names Canterbury Crusaders fly half Richie Mo’unga and cites his game management and control but also the way in which the All Black takes on the line and is a threat every time he’s in the picture.Coming from Manly on Sydney’s North Shore, Walsh is heavily influenced by Rugby League where it was Andrew ‘Joey’ Johns and Jonathan Thurston, both legends of the Australian thirteen-a-side code, who were the inspiration.

The memories he will take from Taunton are positive. “It’s a very impressive club,” he states. “The days they host… particularly the home game against Plymouth. Travelling fans come to all the away games. I guess every time you play for Taunton you feel like you’ve got a lot of support and when you get those arm-wrestle moments in a game that can really matter.”

“We’ve definitely shown we belong in National One,” he reckons, pointing to a bright future, “Tighten up things and a few years of experience and I don’t see why they couldn’t go higher.”

That Worcester game was also his last for Chiefs, Rob Baxter announcing on their website that Jack has picked up an improved contract in Wales.He’s not yet allowed to go into further details about it but he surely goes with the best wishes of everyone at Taunton RFC and our thanks for all that he has put in this season at Veritas Park.

It’s a sentiment Jack wants to return. “Firstly thanks to the coaches. Yappy and Browny, they’ve been pretty accommodating for me with my Chiefs schedule and let me play how I want to play. Then there’s the players –the way they turn up every week and go for it gives me the enthusiasm too. Lastly, the supporters. You always feel like you’ve got people behind you at Taunton. That’s appreciated.”

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