Game is everything to Bell

In a career pockmarked by injury, the scars serve as a constant reminder of darker days. Simply playing, being on a pitch, provides the greatest pleasure, whether it is for club, province or national teams. One can discern the reluctance in Jonathan Bell's voice to over-emphasise how much he is enjoying his rugby, fearful that the injury demons will once again return.

He, more than most, has cause to bemoan the fragility of the human body. At just 24 years of age he has suffered a succession of injuries, considerably more than he could have expected, even allowing for the physical intensity of the sport.

Whispers of unfulfilled potential have reached his ears and he is aware that the pedestal upon which he was placed after a stunning debut on the senior national side on the summer tour to Australia in 1994 has long since been pulled down.

Yet he remains disarmingly honest, pragmatic and self-effacing. "Dinger", as he is affectionately known in the Irish squad, is delighted to be back home in Ulster, playing rugby with his native province (notably in tomorrow's final against Colomiers) and with the Dungannon club. It has helped him to rehabilitate after a desperately disappointing summer.

"It couldn't really have been worse, injured in the first match of the South Africa tour against Boland. I was at a really low ebb when I came home. The previous season with Northampton I had been riddled with injury problems. The club and Ian McGeechan were very patient, insisting that I did not return until I felt right. They provided me with a place on the team every time I returned but the injuries persisted.

"I think that coming home definitely made a difference. I received a lot of support within the Ulster squad and I simply concentrated on getting fit again. There was a good buzz with the players returning home and I desperately wanted to get back playing. The priority at the start of the season was to get games under my belt. I wasn't thinking about the national side, I just wanted to get back into action. Playing rugby is everything to me."

A Schools and Under-21 international Bell's rise to prominence on the senior national side was meteoric. Ostensibly taken on Ireland's tour to Australia in 1994 with a view to developing him for the future, the then Ballymena centre ended up playing both Test matches, producing a couple of brilliant performances. That set a standard, which Bell failed to match subsequently, a succession of injuries draining his confidence.

"Everything came to me at a young age. There were no expectations placed upon me at that time in Australia. I was just enjoying myself. I didn't think too deeply about things, just went out and played. I think that for a while I lost sight of the simplicity of the game, became embroiled in the theory rather than the practice. My first cap was a fantastic experience but it did generate unrealistic expectation.

"I didn't take things to heart so that helped me deal with the criticism. Funny, the one thing that really hurt was not being able to play."

Twenty four caps and six tries further on, and he remains an enigma of sorts for some people: gifted but erratic. His time at Northampton - he joined them in the 1995-'96 season - saw him come under the tutelage of vaunted Lions coach Ian McGeechan, receiving instruction that Bell now realises was invaluable. "He improved my overall view of the game. He got me working harder off the ball.

"In the modern game defences are much more difficult to break down so greater effort is required. He saw my role as creating space for others, putting other players away." It was McGeechan who convinced Bell that his future lay at inside centre. The excellent performances during Ulster's march to tomorrow's final suggest that the young international may be close to being able to deliver consistently on his talent.

The province's wonderful odyssey to Lansdowne Road tomorrow has surprised even the players. Bell conceded: "At the start of the season, none of us would have envisaged this. Obviously the professional attitude and ability of the players coming back to the province was going to make a difference. People, though, also tend to overlook the talent that was already there.

"We started out with a two-year plan but things just accelerated. The priority was to win the interprovincials and we ended up finishing second. We also looked for a decent performance in the European Cup. The transformation in our fortunes during the season coincided with a change of regime. Training was switched from the evenings to day time to facilitate the professional players and that definitely made a difference."

Bell pays tribute to the atmosphere that coach Harry Williams has created within the squad and more specifically the team. "The players are allowed to express themselves. If something does not come off then, fine, you just make sure that it does the next time. There isn't that fear of failure. The younger players are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions. That, allied to a phenomenal work-rate, has got us to this stage of the competition.

"Everyone is aware of their responsibilities and knows where they should be and what is expected of them. There is nothing complicated about the way we play. In one sense we have 15 captains, although obviously David (Humphreys) and Andy (Ward) carry most responsibility in terms of direction.

"The team has grown in confidence throughout the competition. There is no hint of us just being happy to have made the final. We believe that we can win this and that is what we aim to do." If Ulster are to achieve that dream then Bell will be a central figure, just as he should be for the national side.