There is a humility to Hugo Keenan that belies a player who can comfortably be called a complete full-back.
The 28-year-old from Dublin has earned selection for a first British & Irish Lions Tour off the back of five years of remarkable consistency on the international stage.
It is the realisation of a dream that Keenan never allowed himself to believe would come true.
Instead, he has always focused on completing the task at hand in diligent and meticulous fashion.
Tentative beginnings
Keenan was born in the Irish capital and grew up playing a variety of sports, with rugby among them.
A childhood Leinster fan, his rugby progressed as he got into his teenage years, playing for the famous Blackrock College team, which has also produced Joe McCarthy and Garry Ringrose for the 2025 Lions Tour.
Always aware of where he has come from, he has recognised the role his parents and siblings have played in his journey.
"My parents have been absolutely massive,” he told RSVP Live. “100 per cent, I couldn't have done this without them, whether it was my parents dropping me up to training, encouraging me to get involved in everything and anything I could, and the sacrifices they made for me.
"My older brother was someone I always looked up to. He was always an incredible athlete, incredibly fast. He's 30 now and still claims to be faster than me."
But while there is an uber-professionalism to Keenan now, he viewed sport as a pastime during his youth.
Speaking to Virgin Media Sport, said: “Growing up, it probably wasn’t that important. I just played it because I love playing sport, I was big into football, I like my golf.
“My parents were great to me, they got me involved in many sports, and I only got serious in rugby in my late teens, then I suppose I never really saw it as a career.
“It was just me trying to get on to the best team I possibly could. Whether it was Leinster Under 20s, Ireland U20s, the Academy, Sevens and what not.
“It has got a little bit more important in recent years. It is what I want to be doing, and I am very lucky to be in the position I am.”
Keenan represented Ireland at the U20s Rugby World Cup in 2016 and was part of the team's first-ever win over New Zealand before reaching the final, but did not make an immediate step-up to senior rugby from there.
Maturing with the Sevens
Keenan’s strong self-awareness can be seen when he reflects on his time in the Ireland Sevens set-up. He switched to the seven-a-side game in 2017, spending two years with them before returning to the 15s. Keenan said: “At the time when I joined the sevens, at 20/21, I wasn’t ready to make that senior step up with Leinster.
“It gave me the opportunity to play international rugby at a high level and develop my skill set and develop physically as well, get my fitness up, get my speed up, and it was a really good stepping stone into Leinster and Ireland then.”
Keenan returned to the Sevens set-up in 2024, representing his nation at the Paris Olympics.
It means he now stands alone as the only player to have competed in rugby sevens at the Olympics and been selected for The British & Irish Lions.
Making a name for himself
Returning to Leinster full-time in 2019, Keenan operated on the wing and was soon called up to the international stage once rugby returned after Covid.
He made his debut without a crowd, but that does not mean there was no fanfare as he sparkled on his maiden appearance.
Keenan scored two tries in the space of seven minutes and could have had three if the second time he crossed the whitewash was not chalked off by an infringement in the build-up.
The then-24-year-old also had the chance to produce plenty of the skills that he has come to be known for, even as he operated out on the wing.
“It was a huge honour, I wore it with a lot of pride,” Keenan reflected to Virgin Media Sport. “I know the amount of work my parents would have put into me, and my family the support they have shown.
“It was hugely special for them. It was under weird circumstances with Covid and an empty stadium, but I didn’t really mind too much. I was just happy to be wearing the green shirt for the first time.
“It probably wasn’t something that I thought would ever happen in my life, so I was delighted to get my opportunity.”
Only a month after his debut, Keenan wore the No.15 shirt for the first time and has since established himself as Ireland’s premier player in the full-back position.
His value to his nation is clear to see - prior to his brief return to Sevens, he started in 33 of Ireland’s previous 36 tests.
Freak fitness
Keenan has a lengthy highlights reel of takes in the air, weaves to the try line, and perfectly executed try-saving tackles.
But it is his quiet work rate and his fitness that allow him to deliver the spectacular.
His former Leinster teammate James Tracy delved into Keenan’s extraordinary ability, including a world record 4:11 in the bronco test.
“To give you an indication of how fit Hugo Keenan is,” Tracy said on the Off The Ball podcast. “The bronco fitness test which is the kind of standard fitness test that rugby teams do as a baseline for your pre-season fitness.
“Hugo Keenan holds the record in rugby full-stop, second is Beauden Barrett, that is the level of freak of fitness this guy is.
“Even his high-ball work, we probably take that for granted. Until it is an issue all of a sudden, we just forget about how clean he is in the air.”
Former Ireland international James Madigan concurred and recognised that Keenan’s ability and willingness to patrol practically the whole pitch help his teammates to shine.
Teammates and housemates
Two of those teammates for both Leinster and Ireland are Caelan Doris and Rónan Kelleher. Keenan used to live with Doris and is still housemates with Kelleher, with the two receiving their Lions call-ups together.
“It was a nerve-racking hour or so, the anticipation and the build-up,” he said. “I suppose to share that moment with him was pretty cool, pretty special.
“I’ve been living with him for about two-and-a-half years now, and he’d be one of the best mates in here (Leinster). There was delight when the pair of us got the nod.
“It means so much to the both of us, our families, our friends, everybody who has gotten us to this point in our careers, so it was a cool moment.”
The two will now embark on a Lions Tour together, and while Keenan will have competition from Blair Kinghorn to start at full-back, as a man who enjoys doing the hard things well, it is a battle he will relish.
