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What chance for Welsh victories in both Rome and Dublin tomorrow?



With a strong Kerry name like Nathan Breen, there’s nothing that stands out particularly about the Beaufort midfielder, who will play in tomorrow’s AIB All-Ireland junior club final at Croke Park against Sligo’s Easkey - until he starts to speak.



His accent is largely Welsh but also carries a Kerry flavour, making for a rather unusual mix.



His father hails from the village though the family lived in Wales until Breen was 13. His mother is from Flint, most famous for being the hometown of Liverpool record goalscorer Ian Rush.

(Image: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile)





“My mother went to school with him actually,” says Breen. “Had a class photo with him.”



When they moved to Kerry in 2006, the Irish economy was still booming, two years before the crash kicked in.



“I think it was probably in my father’s head that he was going to come back to live in Beaufort. Ireland is a very good place to raise a family.



“Once around 2006 came and everything looked fairly good I suppose they thought it was as good a time as any to come back like. Until two years later then!”



As for Gaelic football, he says he “fell in love with the game straight away” having largely played rugby in Wales.



“I remember my first game. I was 13, with the under-14s. Below in Killorglin. They put me wing-forward. Let me off.



“It was like a cow being introduced to a field for the first time. I was just running around, not doing anything. Looking back at my dad, trying to get direction off him every now and again and he would be pointing up and down the field. Sure it was wasted on me for the first few weeks.”



Breen has played junior football for Kerry and was managed by Darragh O Se for the under-21s.





“It was great. Just to learn from a guy who’s been there and done that and just seeing how he prepares for, let’s say, challenge games against inter-county teams and stuff like that.



“There was tremendous exposure at that age, the respect you’d have for anyone who’s been there and done that for the amount of years that he has.”



He’s rooted in Kerry now, but he doesn’t hesitate when asked where his loyalties will lie when Ireland travel to Cardiff to complete their Six Nations campaign next month.



“Oh Wales. Myself and my mother cheer for Wales and my sister and my father have always cheered for Ireland. That day is always split down the middle in our house.”

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