Proud Keenan admits living with his Ireland rugby teammates helps him to keep up good health habits
The 28-year-old togged out for the country in Rugby Sevens at Paris 2024 during the summer.
And the Leinster fullback reveals he’ll never forget the “once in a lifetime” experience, despite losing out to Fiji in the quarter-finals at the Stade de France.
“Growing up, to be honest, I never thought I’d be a professional rugby player, I never thought I’d be an Olympian, but I would have bitten your hand off for any of them — whether it was a soccer player, tennis player, golfer,” he tells Magazine+. “I just tried my hand at everything.
“The Olympic dream only came alight really back in 2018 when it was announced that Sevens was going into the Tokyo Olympics. I was involved in Sevens back then, and it was always a bit of a carrot dangling there for me… so when the opportunity came up to go back to a team where I had so many friends still on the team … I just found it too hard to resist.
“It was a great experience, highs and lows now, but it was cool.”
Hugo Keenan is pictured taking part in a mixed ability rugby blitz at MU Barnhall RFC in Leixlip. Energia in partnership with the IRFU were proud supporters and participants in the blitz which saw players with physical and learning differences from all four provinces participate.
The Dubliner is sure to have been hoping to return with a medal, as well as lifelong memories, after missing out on Ireland’s thrilling South Africa tour to represent Ireland at the Summer Games, but he says such disappointment is part and parcel of the game.
“Sport is sort of cruel in that regard,” shrugs Hugo, whose Champions Cup campaign with Leinster had also earlier ended in heartbreak. “And rugby, as we know only too well, can come down to the bounce of a ball or a decision, the smallest of margins.
“It was a really, really difficult decision, and I found it probably even more difficult than I thought I would, especially with how it all played out,” he adds of making the switch.
“It’s definitely tough — it’s not a case where you get over these heavy defeats quickly in a week or two. You try to move on, [and] the best way to do it is get back into matches, but the nature of rugby is the big games are at the end of the season, so it’s tough when they don’t go your way that you’re waiting all summer to right a few wrongs.
“I think the best way to [deal with it] is getting close to the lads who you’re playing with, and getting through it together — that’s why living with Caelan [Doris] and Ronan [Kelleher] is so good. We enjoy the good times and the wins together, but we’re here for each other through the losses and those tough days and weeks and months, and try [to] look out for each other in that regard — so I’m lucky to have had the pair of them to lean on.”
Blackrock College alumnus Hugo has been living with his 15s teammates for the past two years — but he jokes that it’s not all work talk at home either.
“Caolan just moved out this week, so it’s a bit of an end of an era,” he says. “I’m not sure how long myself and Ronan will be here, that’s more to do with the housing crisis at the moment, it’s just hard to be a first-time buyer at the moment.
“But it’s been brilliant, I get on so well with the two lads, they’re great company here. It’s not all rugby, rugby, rugby — we’re able to switch off, whether it’s watching shows or doing anything that lads in their 20s do,” adds Hugo, whose girlfriend of three years, Emma Hempenstall, is often snapped cheering him on at games.
Hugo and Emma
“At the same time, it’s also nice to be living with lads in the same situation as you, trying to live in a high performance sort of environment, trying to get the best out of ourselves, learning off each other, getting in good habits whether it’s cooking, sleep, nutrition, all that. It’s definitely been good for my game.”
Energia Rugby for All ambassador Hugo joined fellow Leinster stars Aoife Wafer, Max Deegan and Will Connors at a mixed ability rugby blitz in Kildare last weekend, which saw players with physical and learning differences from all four provinces participate.
And the fan favourite praised the event hosted by Energia in partnership with the IRFU as “great fun”: “It seemed to bring a bit of a lift to everybody, we got stuck in playing tag, and signed a few bits and took a few photos. It was refreshing because you see why people play rugby and why they get involved in team sports, and the joy it brings. I nearly need to remind myself of that sometimes as well.”
Another Six Nations and, of course, a coveted Rugby World Cup remain the ultimate goal for the sportsman, who also has an accountancy qualification to fall back on, just in case.
“Unfortunately the lifespan of a rugby player is nothing guaranteed; you can go until you’re Johnny Sexton, playing at 37, or else I’ve got a few friends like Conor O’Brien who’ve had to retire [prematurely] after a bad run of injuries.
“You want to keep playing until your body allows you, so hopefully I’ll get close to Johnny Sexton territory. There’s a lot of goals that I haven’t ticked off in my rugby career, and the World Cup is definitely one of them,” continues Hugo. “[But] there’s a lot more [games] in the meantime to get there. There’s excitement around every corner — and it’s the same this season.”
See energia.ie/rugbyforall for more