Donncha O'Callaghan says his TV career wouldn't be possible without 'superstar' wife Jenny

For former rugby star Donncha O’Callaghan his new show on RTE One, Donncha’s Away Games, is his most “exciting but nerve-wracking” job to date.

Despite a near-two-decade sporting career – which saw him win the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2009; tour with the British and Irish Lions and spend 17 seasons with Munster – the broadcaster says taking on this new hosting role is probably the most “apprehensive” he’s been in his career... so much so he nearly “text Christy Moore to ask, ‘how do you remember songs?’,” so he could memorise his lines better!

Donncha’s Away Games features six episodes, with Donncha pairing up with one Irish celebrity in each episode and travelling to a European country with them to compete in a local game such the Highland Games in Scotland or the Wife Carrying Competition in Finland.

The action-packed show follows Donncha as he takes a different celebrity abroad each week, with the chosen stars – which includes sports stars Tommy Bowe, Kellie Harrington and Jordan Conroy, comedian Emma Doran, Dancing With The Stars Ireland judge Oti Mabuse and actress Hilary Rose – donning the green jersey and competing for national glory in some of the world’s weirdest, wackiest, and most unusual challenges.

Viewers will watch Ireland’s finest faces take on legendary global events, with challenges including sprinting through the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland, paddling for survival in the Bathtub Regatta in Belgium, and testing their strength at the historic Highland Games in Scotland.

Beyond the bizarre competitions, each hour-long episode immerses the celebrity and viewers in local culture as the duo will explore famous sights, taste local delicacies, and experience the unique traditions of their host country.

And Donncha says that while we can expect a “great bit of craic”, there are also some “truly heartfelt moments in there as well”.

“I didn’t know some of the stories behind Kellie Harrington’s success, for example, or what it takes to be a back-to-back Olympic champion,” he says.

“And there’s a brilliant moment with Tommy Bowe and a bathtub in Belgium – I won’t spoil it – but that was just total fun. So I hope people enjoy it.

“You know when you come away from something, you’re nervous and apprehensive of course but I’m really proud of it, I’m really proud of the show and I hope people enjoy it. I think they will.

“I think it’s got a good mix of craic, fun and heart. Now we fall on our arse sometimes but I don’t think Irish people ever mind you doing that, if you go full hearted.”

When Donncha’s playing days came to an end back in 2018, he had a rough idea of his plans for a future career, having been afforded plenty of “opportunities” due to his high profile, but despite this, his career has gone in a completely different direction.

“I could never have expected this for my career after I finished playing rugby,” Donncha told Chic.

“Of course you have a plan; I had a five-year plan because you’re afforded these opportunities during your time playing.

“And I could have stayed in the world of rugby with coaching and punditry but these opportunities started coming up and I just took them.”

Since hanging up his boots eight years ago, the 47-year-old has built an impressive CV.

He released an autobiography in October 2011, called Joking Apart: My Autobiography before using his sporting background to join Ireland’s Fittest Family as a coach in 2015.

In May 2021, he was announced as one of the presenters of the RTE 2fm Breakfast Show alongside Doireann Garrihy and Carl Mullan.

And since departing that show in the summer of 2024, he has gone on to launch a weekly podcast, The Offload, alongside Tommy Bowe – who Donncha “talks to more now than we did during our rugby careers” – and has written a children’s comedy series of books, titled Disaster Dad.

And Donncha admits he draws on some of his own experiences as a dad to his four kids – Sophie, Anna, Robin, and Jake – for the book.

“My kids slag me saying, you’ve basically disguised an autobiography in this book!,” he says.

“This book basically describes a trip to – we couldn’t name it at the time – Fota and some of the silly things that happened us down there.

“I think you elaborate some of the stories but it’s very much based on me.

“But I’m very sensitive to it not being a reflection on the kids... because it’s not – the character at the heart of it is me and every kid with an embarrassing dad or mom that kind of gets it wrong every now and again.

“But I do think it’s important to not show weakness – mom and dad always have your back – but to be a little bit vulnerable as well that parents make mistakes, parents get things wrong.

“And something I worry an awful lot about is that we’re losing the ability to laugh at ourselves; we’re getting too caught up trying to be perfect.

“But it’s okay sometimes to put your hand up and go, ‘yeah, I got that badly wrong and I look like an idiot but it’s totally fine because it’s just a bit of craic’, you know.”

In his broadcasting career, Donncha has some very experienced friends to call on for advice, with his former teammate Tommy Bowe, who currently presents on Ireland AM but also stars in an episode of Donncha’s Away Games, on hand to offer some pearls of wisdom.

“It’s funny because this is the most serious in his career that I’ve seen Tommy in all the years I’ve known him,” Donncha jokes.

“I said to him, ‘I wish you were this serious when we played rugby!’, this was the guy who played with two left boots!

“And I was really lucky with 2fm Breakfast, with Doireann and Carl. Doireann always had my back, she would always bat for me or dig me out of a hole when I got myself there and Carl would help you laugh at yourself.

“And myself and Tommy would, and still do, chat an awful lot. It’s very different to rugby – live TV and live radio – you actually have to make the mistakes to learn whereas in rugby you do the training so you never make the error.

“And I won’t say I have it nailed by any means and there’s loads I have to improve on and I think Donncha’s Away Games taught me that.

“It’s the first time I noticed that if you’re presenting you’ve a responsibility to the crew and the sound tech and everyone to make sure you nail your role because it’s their time too and I didn’t realise that until this trip, that you being all over your lines and you being sharp and ready to go was so important.

“I swear to God, I was going to text Christy Moore and ask, ‘how do you remember songs?’.

“It really makes you appreciate the brilliant ones who do it – I look at the likes of Kathryn Thomas, Ryan Tubridy, Patrick Kielty, they can nail it, it’s incredible.”

With all his work commitments, it must be tough to balance his home life with his career – thankfully, Donncha has “superstar” wife Jenny who he credits with being the “rock” of the family.

“Jenny is just a superstar and she’s all over it,” he says, while adding, “plus our kids are kind of self-motivated as well.

“We put them into things and we’ll always help them and encourage them but we’re not dragging them along to them so they’ve to bring the motivation and we’ll double down every time if they want to swim or row or play hockey or rugby, we’re there for you, we’ll bring you all over the place but we’re not packing the bags and making sure you’re out of the bed, that’s on you.

“But Jenny is incredible with it. So like everyone it’s a stress and I’m not coming away saying we have it nailed because there is times the two of us find it stressful and it gets on top of you, there’s no doubting it, but I must say I do feel privileged being able to do the stuff I do and I wouldn’t be able to do it if it wasn’t for Jenny – she’s the rock that grabs us all and looks out for us.”

Having a famous dad comes with some “cool” moments for Donncha’s kids – even if they’re not quite sure what their dad does to earn a living!

“At the moment I get recognised more for stuff I’ve done, like the book or Fittest Family, rather than the rugby so when people do come up about rugby I’m like, ‘yes, they remember!’,” he says, “so to everyone else you might be someone else or you’re on their TV whereas to my kids I’m dad.

“Though they did find it fairly cool there, about three months ago, we were in shopping and we passed Hilary Rose and I was there going ‘hey, how’s it going?’ and they were like, ‘oh my god, you know Mairead from The Young Offenders’ so there’s parts of that that’s fairly cool.

“But to be honest with you, Robyn, my little girl, she’s just started secondary school but when she was in sixth class she was like ‘dad, what do I tell people that your job is? because Saoirse’s dad is an engineer, another’s a medical rep, but what do you do?’ and I was like, ‘that’s a great question, Robyn, I don’t know!’.”

Donncha’s Away Games starts on Sunday, September 20 at 7.30pm on RTE One and RTE Player.

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