There is an age-old adage that farming lends well to playing sport due to the physical nature of the work. Farmer and captain of the Ireland and Ulster rugby teams, Rory Best feels this is true to some degree – but, it is more so a farmers’ mentality that makes them successful rugby players. At present, there are no less than seven farmers on the Irish rugby team.
“There’s obviously a little bit of the physique there in terms of the natural strength you get from growing up on the farm. But I think it’s probably more so that farming is a very isolated occupation, so you need to have a lot of mental strength,” explains Rory.
“Ultimately, there’s a big crossover there. We spend our time trying to get rid of doubts on the rugby pitch and leading into games. With farmers working in such isolation, I think it’s that mental strength that lends itself to rugby.
“But also, let’s be honest, the way pressures are at times in farming, farmers are mad to keep going. If that was any other business, they’d have been wound up. The land is an asset, but there is a real single-mindedness, ‘No, no one is going to tell me when I’m done’. That’s obviously a real big thing in team sports as well.”
Life after rugby
The 36-year-old recently announced he will retire from both the Ireland and Ulster setups after the World Cup in Japan this autumn.
It is indisputable he will be closing the door on an illustrious career, having been capped well over 100 times for his country, winning four Six Nations and two Grand Slams, to name but a few accolades.
In life after rugby, however, Rory won’t be limited inside or outside the farm gate. “My father, brother and I have had discussions around trying to expand the farm in terms of the number of acres, but also diversify a little bit. We have a green waste composting plant, we obviously have the cattle and we have the arable side of it.
“So we will have to look at other ways of doing it. I certainly wouldn’t go straight into coaching (after retirement) unless somebody offered me something that really interested me.”
As well as more farming, the hooker hopes to devote more time to the companies he works with, which include Dunbia, Dale Farm and Devenish Nutrition.
When Irish Country Living meets Rory he is working with Specsavers Audiologists, raising awareness of the need for people to get their hearing tested.
Of late, Rory received the all-clear himself after having his own hearing tested. “It just gave me that bit of confidence to know my hearing was alright. My wife was shocked – unfortunately now when I pretend I don’t hear her it won’t work. It sort of ruined me a bit with Jodie,” jokes the skipper.
Family farming
From Poyntzpass, Co Armagh, Rory comes from a family steeped in both farming and rugby. His father John keeps pedigree cattle and his older brother Simon is an Irish Farmers Journal From the Tramlines farmer. Combined, they farm 1,200 acres.
Interestingly, it was injury that prompted Rory to buy his own farm.
“I hurt my neck in 2009 and realised that I wasn’t going to play rugby forever. What happens if I retire and I have nothing else? I studied agriculture in Newcastle, I did quite a bit on the farm, but I had nothing really to my own name.
“We had a pretty good bull at the time, dad went to Stirling to buy this bull to run with the Simmentals. I said, ‘Well look, it makes sense’, I wanted to get back into the pedigrees. That is what I used to love doing when I was younger.”
With around 60 Angus cattle at present, Rory started off by purchasing two cows in Dungannon, one of which he still has. She has averaged a calf a year for the past 10 years.
Brothers in arms
On the rugby side of things, Rory and Simon played for Ireland and Ulster together, something Rory is incredibly proud of. “I won both my first Ulster and Ireland caps coming off the bench when he was in the front row. We only had one start together and that was in the Six Nations in Murrayfield.
“I probably took it a little bit for granted back then, it’s only now that I look back, actually some of my most memorable achievements were playing alongside my brother. Because not many people get to play for Ireland, never mind play for Ireland alongside their brother.”
Rory and Jodie have three children; Ben, Penny and Richie, all of whom have varying levels of interest in farming and rugby. “The eldest boy plays rugby and the youngest boy was always farming mad. ‘Do you want to do anything with the rugby ball?’ ‘No, I want to go with grandpa to farm’.
“He would have cleared off to the farm of a Saturday morning while Ben was at rugby and Penny was at dancing. But now, just I would say in the last six months or so, he has started to go towards the rugby and sport.
“Wee Penny, she mucks in wherever. She wants to go where you go, if you are going to the farm, she wants to go to the farm. If you are going to the rugby, she wants to go to the rugby.”
With family tradition strong among the Bests, it is likely we will see either another generation of farmers or rugby players coming through in some shape or form. Maybe both – after all, one seems to lend to the other.
Read more
"I usually spend my days off as farming days" - Rory Best
From the tramlines: follow the progress of 12 tillage farmers nationwide
Working on a farm is the best training ground for rugby - CJ Stander
There is an age-old adage that farming lends well to playing sport due to the physical nature of the work. Farmer and captain of the Ireland and Ulster rugby teams, Rory Best feels this is true to some degree – but, it is more so a farmers’ mentality that makes them successful rugby players. At present, there are no less than seven farmers on the Irish rugby team.
“There’s obviously a little bit of the physique there in terms of the natural strength you get from growing up on the farm. But I think it’s probably more so that farming is a very isolated occupation, so you need to have a lot of mental strength,” explains Rory.
“Ultimately, there’s a big crossover there. We spend our time trying to get rid of doubts on the rugby pitch and leading into games. With farmers working in such isolation, I think it’s that mental strength that lends itself to rugby.
“But also, let’s be honest, the way pressures are at times in farming, farmers are mad to keep going. If that was any other business, they’d have been wound up. The land is an asset, but there is a real single-mindedness, ‘No, no one is going to tell me when I’m done’. That’s obviously a real big thing in team sports as well.”
Life after rugby
The 36-year-old recently announced he will retire from both the Ireland and Ulster setups after the World Cup in Japan this autumn.
It is indisputable he will be closing the door on an illustrious career, having been capped well over 100 times for his country, winning four Six Nations and two Grand Slams, to name but a few accolades.
In life after rugby, however, Rory won’t be limited inside or outside the farm gate. “My father, brother and I have had discussions around trying to expand the farm in terms of the number of acres, but also diversify a little bit. We have a green waste composting plant, we obviously have the cattle and we have the arable side of it.
“So we will have to look at other ways of doing it. I certainly wouldn’t go straight into coaching (after retirement) unless somebody offered me something that really interested me.”
As well as more farming, the hooker hopes to devote more time to the companies he works with, which include Dunbia, Dale Farm and Devenish Nutrition.
When Irish Country Living meets Rory he is working with Specsavers Audiologists, raising awareness of the need for people to get their hearing tested.
Of late, Rory received the all-clear himself after having his own hearing tested. “It just gave me that bit of confidence to know my hearing was alright. My wife was shocked – unfortunately now when I pretend I don’t hear her it won’t work. It sort of ruined me a bit with Jodie,” jokes the skipper.
Family farming
From Poyntzpass, Co Armagh, Rory comes from a family steeped in both farming and rugby. His father John keeps pedigree cattle and his older brother Simon is an Irish Farmers Journal From the Tramlines farmer. Combined, they farm 1,200 acres.
Interestingly, it was injury that prompted Rory to buy his own farm.
“I hurt my neck in 2009 and realised that I wasn’t going to play rugby forever. What happens if I retire and I have nothing else? I studied agriculture in Newcastle, I did quite a bit on the farm, but I had nothing really to my own name.
“We had a pretty good bull at the time, dad went to Stirling to buy this bull to run with the Simmentals. I said, ‘Well look, it makes sense’, I wanted to get back into the pedigrees. That is what I used to love doing when I was younger.”
With around 60 Angus cattle at present, Rory started off by purchasing two cows in Dungannon, one of which he still has. She has averaged a calf a year for the past 10 years.
Brothers in arms
On the rugby side of things, Rory and Simon played for Ireland and Ulster together, something Rory is incredibly proud of. “I won both my first Ulster and Ireland caps coming off the bench when he was in the front row. We only had one start together and that was in the Six Nations in Murrayfield.
“I probably took it a little bit for granted back then, it’s only now that I look back, actually some of my most memorable achievements were playing alongside my brother. Because not many people get to play for Ireland, never mind play for Ireland alongside their brother.”
Rory and Jodie have three children; Ben, Penny and Richie, all of whom have varying levels of interest in farming and rugby. “The eldest boy plays rugby and the youngest boy was always farming mad. ‘Do you want to do anything with the rugby ball?’ ‘No, I want to go with grandpa to farm’.
“He would have cleared off to the farm of a Saturday morning while Ben was at rugby and Penny was at dancing. But now, just I would say in the last six months or so, he has started to go towards the rugby and sport.
“Wee Penny, she mucks in wherever. She wants to go where you go, if you are going to the farm, she wants to go to the farm. If you are going to the rugby, she wants to go to the rugby.”
With family tradition strong among the Bests, it is likely we will see either another generation of farmers or rugby players coming through in some shape or form. Maybe both – after all, one seems to lend to the other.
Read more
"I usually spend my days off as farming days" - Rory Best
From the tramlines: follow the progress of 12 tillage farmers nationwide
Working on a farm is the best training ground for rugby - CJ Stander
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