British and Irish Lions fullback Hugo Keenan endured a slow start to the tour of Australia with the Irishman’s illness seeing him married to the toilet as he lost considerable weight
Test probable Hugo Keenan has revealed how his entire Lions tour nearly went down the toilet after he was laid up for nearly two weeks with a stomach bug.
The Irish full-back, who arrived in Australia nursing a knee injury, was laid low by a virus that saw him lose close to a stone in weight ahead of his opening appearance down under against the Waratahs in Sydney last weekend.
The 29-year-old had a shocker that night but, with Blair Kinghorn struggling with a knee injury, put his hand up for this weekend’s Test opener in Brisbane against the Wallabies in Saturday’s 48-0 win over an AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide.
But Leinster’s Keenan admitted being confined to barracks, after the tourists first landed in Western Australia, for their opener against the Force on 28 June was not the best start to his life with the Lions.
Keenan said: “It wasn’t exactly what you planned on when getting on tour. I was sick for about 12 days, it was rough. Getting off the toilet was an issue, and I lost about five or six kilos. There was a little bit of a virus going around camp but for whatever reason it hit me on a different level.
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“I was isolating for a good bit, and most lads recovered pretty quick from it, but I’ve never had something like that. God, it was pretty horrible. It was frustrating. Every day you think you’re going to be waking up the next day better. You think it’s going to be sort of a 24-hour, 48-hour thing. The tour will hopefully kick on for me here and I can start enjoying it a bit more.
“It was a challenge but that’s part of touring life, isn’t it? All these little bits, manning up as much as you can. I felt terrible in that Waratahs game. But look, sometimes you just have to front up and do what’s needed.”
Keenan is trying to pile on the pounds, to get close to his fighting weight of around 15 stone, with the help of touring nutritionist, Professor Graeme Close, part of a massive back-room staff which dwarfs the playing squad.
Keenan added: “I’m getting there now, I’m still a few kilos off, still probably not filling out that jersey like I was, but it’ll be fine, I’ll get there. I’m working with Closey, he’s been unbelievable. Making me high-calorie shakes and trying to get as many fluids into me to get the weight back on. Fair play to him.”
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Keenan pulled his weight from full-back as head coach Andy Farrell’s side showed a bit of cohesion in attack at the Adelaide Oval.
“We knew we had that performance in us,” said Keenan. “To put a team like that to nil with their quality is a real step forward. Everybody’s hungry to play next week, everybody wants to be involved, so it’s exactly what Faz is looking for, competition throughout the squad, all positions, and that’s a real healthy thing to have.”
