Talk:Victor Costello

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This is definitely a copyright issue, if you wrote this can you please do something with it or it will get deleted.GordyB 22:32, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

Not only that, the article has his name wrong. His correct name is Victor Costello. Dale Arnett 05:26, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Move possible copyvio text to talk page

Gu 12:51, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Victor Costello Article - Preview - Ulster (CL): By Peter Breen

A new dawn of a new year brings its own aspirations. For Leinster and Ireland number eight Victor Costello these are exciting times. Days to cherish before the inevitable “R” word comes around.

Since Costello leapt onto the Leinster Schools scene in the late 1980’s with his alma mater Blackrock College, he has been one of the imposing presences of the Irish game.

You remember the call that used to shrill out across Donnybrook “Give it to Victor” as he charged for try-line after try-line in that famous final against Belvedere College. The 1992 Olympics. The 35 caps for Ireland. The 91 for Leinster before tonight's game. Even sitting across from him you feel a touch apprehensive.

Where to start? Probably at the beginning. The Senior Cup. “They were good days. ‘Rock’s success was down to the huge competition for places in terms of sport, business and for life after school.

“We had a very good team back then and we kind of cruised into the final in 1989. It was a great year. Training was once a day and the sessions were hard. It was professional rugby before its time.

“I was fortunate to win two medals in three years. It gave me a great taste for winning. The discipline earned in those early days was vital for me personally.”

Costello then went on to represent Ireland in the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona. He recalls: “The difference between rugby and athletics is that athletics is black and white. If you’re the best you run the fastest, throw the longest etc.

“What athletics gave me, and it’s something that I’d hope to continue throughout my life, is a competitiveness and an ambition to succeed. I was a good shot-putter for my age and I probably would have benefited by going to the United States and training in better facilities.

“But I wasn’t that interested in the sport. I always wanted to be a rugby player. I always loved the idea of the team. Athletics is a very selfish sport, but it did give me that edge.”

It was the grounding that was groomed in the early years that enabled Costello to return to the international set-up with a bang in the last three years, following the wilderness of the mid-90’s.

He says: “You have to believe that you’re going to succeed in whatever you do. And I always had that belief in myself. In a competitive rugby environment you might not always agree with everyone on your team. But that’s what makes a team.

“Your row in together and learn to give a little and take a little. A lot of my recent success has been down to a lot of hard work and belief in myself when it has been hard to believe. If you look at the recent game against Biarritz we went out and believed that we would win, we wanted to win and we did just that.”

It’s been a long end to an action-packed 2003 for the 33-year-old who still has that hunger and drive to succeed.

“For a moment it was all about the World Cup. It was like last season when in spells we couldn’t think about anything other than the England game in the Six Nations or the Perpignan game in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup. Those defeats still hurt. We’ve got a lot of wrongs to make right this year.

“But we all know what’s required now and we’re hungry to go those extra few steps this year. After the World Cup, we’re all straight back into the bang-bang-bang of the provincial system and we’re looking forward.”

With tonight’s game with Ulster in mind, describe the specific differences surrounding the provincial derbies. “It’s almost a game of chess, when you come up against one of the provinces, because you know each other so well. One of the reasons why the Irish sides have done so well in Europe in recent years is because of that competitiveness.

“Playing the likes of Ulster twice a year gives you an edge. Ulster have a very good lineout. Humphs (David Humphreys) is obviously a threat and the entire backline is strong and mobile. Up in Ravenhill they’re a very difficult side to face.”

Costello remains the focal point of the Leinster pack. It’s the sense of knowing where he has come from that drives him on. Though he is in his 34th year, he’s not ready just yet to hang up the boots.

“It’s important to set goals for yourself. You have to know where you’re going in life and if you don’t have that hunger then you’re just wasting your time. If you don’t achieve your goals then you have to ask yourself why you didn’t. And then bite back into something new.”

Bite back. Fight back. It’s nothing new for Costello. He’s been doing it all his life.