A flanker again out in the open

Kieron Dawson's second incarnation as an Irish openside will, one hopes, last a good deal longer than the first and be a good deal happier. Indeed, so miserable had he become with his lot as London Irish and Ireland sustained one hiding after another the season before last that he was almost grateful to be dropped when Warren Gatland came aboard.

Of course, as the open-side and first up in the line of defence, Dawson bore the brunt of the defeats as much as anyone. "At the time I felt I didn't want to play anymore for any representative team. I was getting flak at London Irish, getting pounded all the time. I just didn't want to expose myself to the media pressure any more."

His debut, at Lansdowne Road against the All Blacks, neatly summed up his angst: he felt he played well, but the score was 63-15.

"Then the Canadian match, a nothing match really, and then against Scotland, I can't remember it at all. I got a couple of bangs on the head and I just put it out of my mind. I didn't even watch the video. I just wanted to forget about that game."

Relieved to be dropped? "In a weird way I was. I'd had a knee operation at Christmas, and then I played one game and a half before I was straight in for the Scotland game. I didn't do myself justice, I let myself down and I let everybody else down. To be honest I didn't want to play again."

But it's been almost 21 months. After so long on the outside looking in, Dawson is in a better position than most to compare this Irish set-up with the previous one.

"Donal Lenihan makes a big difference. He is very professional. Everything is there. Gatty has sort of set patterns, whereas Brian's philosophy was basically go out and do it, express yourself," he recalls with a wry laugh. "Which to an Irish player means just go out and try something, which led to a few shambollic performances."

Sidelined by a broken ankle, then ignored despite a good passage of form, and ruled out of Australia during the summer by a double hernia operation, he was recalled in part due to the barrenness of the openside cupboard. If it surprised Dawson's detractors, it knocked Dick Best over with a feather: the London Irish coach said his flanker was a million miles away from the fitness required for Test rugby.

He was a little surprised himself, but "I had confidence in my own ability and I knew that five or six weeks down the line I would be fit enough. So yeah, I had a bit of a head-to-head with Dick Best over his comments. He's stubborn and I'm stubborn as well, so we had a bit of a clash. People were saying one thing, but I knew differently."

Watching the opening World Cup games from the stand frustrated him, and Dawson's ultimate return for the Romanian game made it one of the biggest of his career. He wasn't long showing his abilities, supporting Eric Elwood's seventh minute break, then drawing the Romanian full-back to put the supporting James Topping into space.

"There was a little bit of rustiness, but it was a dream start contributing to that try. It really gave me the confidence to settle into the game and gave people confidence in me."

His continuity play satisfied him the most. "Having watched the game against Ireland previously they slowed a lot of our ball, and made it difficult for our half-backs to get going. I thought we produced good, fast ball, and with Wardie playing six we could take it in turn to win ball. A couple of nice turnovers too."

He rates it as the best of his four Irish Tests. "I like doing the unseen things, the little intricacies of the game. And if you get to do some flashy stuff as well all the better."

Pleasantly surprised by his retention for tomorrow night's meeting with the Pumas, he sees it as another chance to poke one in the eye of his knockers. "Yeah, I've had my knockers, but that's part and parcel of the game. I want to prove a few people wrong. I let myself down the last time I played and I want to make up for that."