Louis Lynagh
Louis Lynagh, son of former Wallaby player Michael Lynagh, is an exciting outside back for Harlequins. He made his senior debut in 2019/20 and helped the team win the Premiership t...
Select an answer to get started
How old were you when you made your debut?
So I was 19 years old. It was the last game of the season. It was actually Chris Rob Shaw's 300th game against Leicester and Leicester and it was weird. There was no crowds, but I got on off the bench, came on at fullback for the last 20 minutes, and yeah, it was pretty exciting. I had to tackle this massive rugby player called Naman Nlo twice after he had a 30 metre run up on me. So went around the ankles and held my breath, and luckily I got up and there was no broken bones, so it was all good.
How did you feel on your debut?
So, yeah, it's a weird one because my debut, it was during the Covid period, so there was actually no crowd. So there was fake crowd noise though, so that didn't really make much of a difference. But it was really cool to make my debut in general. There was a lot of my friends there in the crowd as part of the playing group. It was obviously really nervous. Probably would've been more nervous with a packed out crowd, but it was kind of a blessing in disguise. Having it during the Covid period, it's kind of my first game. I could just ease into it without any of the away fans getting stuck into me. So, no, it was really good to just get out there and then eventually when I did play in front of a crowd, it was a whole different experience that I could enjoy.
Do you ever get nervous before a game?
Oh yeah. Yeah. I get incredibly nervous before a game. I get nervous. I've been getting nervous since school days, even playing in front of no fans to playing in front of 60, 70,000 people at Wickham. I get the same amount of nerves. It's not really a problem with me. Obviously, it's not a great feeling before a game, but I know if I have the amount of nerves, the more nerves I have, I know the better I'll play. So I think nerves is a really good thing. It makes you more hyper-focused. It makes you know that this is going to be a good day. And as soon as the whistle blows and the game starts, everything just disappears and you just play rugby.