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RORY BEST was sitting at home last week when his older son Ben asked him what Nevin Spence was like, not as a player, but as a person.
No one can search YouTube clips and see how talented the Ulster center was, but not everyone was lucky enough to meet the man.
This September will mark the eighth anniversary since Spence tragically lost his life in an agricultural accident, which also claimed the lives of his father Noel and brother Graham.
Even after so many years, such devastation is hard to understand, but those who stayed behind are at least able to take comfort in the fact that in Ulster rugby circles, Spence left a lasting legacy.
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During these difficult times, the family had reason to celebrate recently, as Spence’s sister Emma welcomed the arrival of the twins, named Noel Graham and Nevin.
The fact that the twins were born in the same month that Spence would have turned 30 made their births even more moving.
Fateful
So much has happened since that fateful day in September 2012, it’s easy for outsiders to forget how good Spence was, but around Ulster, his memory is still as strong as ever.
At age 30, the former Ireland U-20 international, who was also a prestigious underage soccer player, would have been at the peak of his career. Anyone who watched him closely had no doubt that he was destined for the top.
Spence possessed that raw power, which has become such an important factor in today’s modern game, while his ability to swipe past players (see his grand attempt against the Dragons in 2011) made him mark as a certain future star.
“Nevin really wanted to improve,” recalls Best, who captained Spence throughout his short career.
“Sometimes good players just say, ‘Yes, I’m great, this is brilliant.'” While other guys say, ‘Yes, I’m not bad, but how can I be better?’
“He had that attitude and when you think about his age and all the learning he had to do before he was 20, where would he have been now? How much would he have learned?
“He was also a fantastic footballer, so his ability to learn and work hard to improve was exceptional.
“Everyone talked about how good he was when it happened, but he was still very, very young. He had a lot of room for improvement, but unfortunately we were never able to see that.”
“It was around this time that the game was evolving a bit. It went from being that international teams had one or two of these abnormal athletes, who were big and powerful and capable of discharge.
“In the last eight years, each team has three out of four boys who are correct athletes and with real power.”
“The way the game played out since then would have really suited him because they were big, strong, and powerful athletes.”
“You can watch the videos and see how special he was, but he was still very, very young to us.”
“You see how much better people get better when they put their feet under the table and feel more comfortable with that. That’s when we really would have seen him put himself in his place.”
Listening to those who knew Spence best, one of the things that stands out is his modesty, which many suggest he never knew how talented he really was.
Darren Cave was three years older than Spence, but as soon as he left Ulster Academy, he was glancing over his shoulder at the new kid on the block.
Near
The Darren Cave of Ulster. Photo: sports archive
SPORTS FILE
That did not mean that the couple was not close. They may have been competing in the middle of the field, but the healthy competition brought out the best in themselves.
“I would have loved to help him when he asked me to, but at the same time, I was very aware that this boy was very good!” Cave recalls.
“I still sometimes go out to see his mother. She still lives in the same house. She loves learning about Nevin. Every time you go up there is another story that she hasn’t heard.
“I always remember; we used to buy boots from the same company. They were making these white ones that I loved, but Nevin didn’t wear them.
“They brought some new blacks, which meant you couldn’t get whites anymore. I was furious! Nevin was the complete opposite. We had the same size feet and the same boots, so we used to swap them. He had these shiny new black boots And I remember giving up on them, so Nevin said, ‘Here I have four pairs of the white ones that I never used because I wouldn’t use them.’
“I went straight to his house to trade them for blacks. That probably sums up the biggest difference between the two of us.
“I was interested in ‘Look at my white boots’, while Nevin was a bit more like ‘Give me the black ones and let me get on with my rugby!'”
Spence played 42 times for Ulster before his life was cruelly interrupted.
The way her mother Essie and sisters Emma and Laura have handled each other since the tragedy has been nothing but “inspiring,” according to Cave, who was always filled with admiration for his late teammate and friend.
“When I think of the phrase ‘Go through a brick wall,’ Nevin is definitely someone who comes to mind,” says Cave.
“The way Nevin acted on and off the field is something that we at Ulster do, and I want to say that, as a fan today, we want our team.”
“His honesty, his humility, his work ethic, his ferocity, his sportsmanship, at Ulster, that’s what we want from all of our players.”
“The way Nevin handled himself remains a real plan for what we want to see of every player who enters the field representing the entire province.”
Live Cave, Best has now also retired, but he also knows that Spence’s memory will live forever around Ravenhill.
“It will never be forgotten because for such a short period of time, Nevin had a huge impact on all of us.”
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