Ireland's call is constant for Humphreys

Stade De France, Six Nations Championship (19992000), Brian O'Driscoll grabs a hat-trick of tries and Ireland manufacture a sensational 27-25 victory, breaking a 27-year hoodoo in Paris. Twelve months on and David Humphreys sits by the window in a lounge in the Glenview Hotel in Co Wicklow. On Saturday France arrive at Lansdowne Road; Humphreys will start on the bench.

In the clamour for interviews, a non-starting player is usually allowed to pass unmolested by the shoal of media piranhas, there to strip fleshy sound bites from sundry players. Humphreys, though, has a special relationship with the French that extends beyond a series of brilliant displays against the Gallic nation during Ulster's 1999 European Cup success.

In successive Six Nations Championships, Humphreys experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum. At Lansdowne Road two seasons ago he missed a penalty opportunity to hand Ireland a deserved victory while 12 months ago, faced with a similar task, he guaranteed his team an historic win with a beautifully struck penalty kick.

It was a poetic redemption, albeit now dimmed by memory. O'Driscoll's legacy overshadows all contributions from Stade de France last season. The Dungannon outhalf is uncomplaining. What are your memories from last year? "Brian O'Driscoll scoring three tries.

"Ask anybody and that's their memory and that's mine as well. It's good that Brian took all the glory from that day and, don't get me wrong that is how is should be; all I did was knock over a kick in the end. He had done all of the work. It (the penalty) is not something that people remember." Well, probably few outside the Humphreys family and the media.

France's coming to Dublin this week does inspire the odd recollection of previous encounters on the international stage but little emotional baggage as far as Humphreys is concerned. "Yeh, I think it's fair to say that those games do go through your mind. I suppose you live on your memories to some extent. I look back and obviously I would change some things but on the whole I have been very lucky." Subject closed.

A fortnight ago Humphreys was summoned as a second-half substitute against Italy in Stadio Flaminio, not to replace Ronan O'Gara at outhalf. Instead he slotted into the full back's role with Girvan Dempsey moving to the left wing. A section of the media has championed his inclusion on the team, even it if meant playing out of his natural position at outhalf: full back has been the populist alternative.

"I think that if you asked any player if they wanted to play for Ireland they would say yes. I would happily go out and play . . . well almost anywhere. I should probably qualify that quite a lot," Humphreys laughs. "There are two or three positions that I would be happy to play. You just want to get out on the pitch, want to be part of it and I have enjoyed getting on whether at full back or outhalf. Given a choice you prefer to play the position with which you are most comfortable."

So what's it like ensconced in a seat in the West Stand, counting down the minutes to a possible call to action? "It's hard to explain. If you asked me a few years ago when subs didn't get on then, you just sat back during the game and then all of a sudden if the player in your position went down there'd be complete panic.

"Now you find yourself preparing to go on throughout a match, getting used to the pace of the game without being involved, trying to see where there might be opportunities to exploit an opposition. I don't get nervous. It's more a case of trying to get yourself ready (mentally) so that if the opportunity arises, you're set.

"It's so unlike being in the heat of battle. It's easier to remember what you have been doing in training and trying to put into practice when you are in the stand. You identify certain things. If you're playing, it's harder, because you're tired, all the pressure is around you and there isn't the time to be terribly analytical. I actually enjoy sitting back and watching games. The preparation between playing and bench duty is completely different no matter how certain you may be that you'll be coming on."

Whatever transpires, Humphreys will be ready when the call comes, no matter what is asked of him.