Low profile masks lofty ambition

Ireland v Scotland: They're an odd couple, the Easterby brothers. They don't particularly look alike, and whereas the elder Guy is a voluble character, often to be found at the front of the team bus taking the mike and the mick out of his fellow players, you'd imagine Simon would be one of those quietly smiling to himself somewhere in the middle, and glad to be there.

A quietly intense, intelligent, modest, professional, low-profile kind of fellow, nonetheless Simon's the first to admit that he does know how to party. In this and other respects, he's a throwback to another generally unassuming, nuts-and-bolts, Irish Exile blindside flanker from the 1982 Triple Crown vintage, John O'Driscoll.

A decidedly hardy boyo too, this mix of Irish grit and Yorkshire steel, for another striking Easterby characteristic is the high pain threshold which Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has recently lauded. Whether O'Sullivan was quite so impressed when Easterby decided to play with a broken bone in his left hand for Llanelli just two weeks before the Six Nations is another matter.

But it was the Scarlets' biggest game of the season thus far, and in his fifth season at Stradey Park, he felt it was the least he could do.

"It's set itself since," he says, showing a discernible bump in the back of his left hand, adding with a laugh, "fortunately I haven't had a good knock on it since, apart from (Llanelli team-mate) Robyn McBryde standing on it against Northampton. He threatened to do it again against Wales but he couldn't get near me."

Simon Easterby had always been cognisant of his Irishness, hardly surprising given his mother Katherine Doyle had played hockey for Ireland and grew up 100 yards from Stradbrook, where they frequently returned on vacation. His dad, Henry, who played at school for Headingley, and himself are cousins to the Easterby horse trainers.

Recently, Simon and Guy have bought a horse with some Llanelli team-mates including his good friend Stephen Jones under the syndicate name Saints and Sinners; a feisty Irish-bred, four-year-old who is in training with Philip Hobbs. "He's fairly raw. He's had to be broken in basically, and it's taken a while to get a rider on board. He's had a bit of a niggle in his back after throwing a couple of jockeys off."

Rugby took hold from about 10 onwards once he went to the same school as Lawrence Dallaglio, who was a year behind Guy and three above Simon, and he attributes much of his development to his coach at Ampleforth College, a former English international John Wilcox.

"I've spoken to Lawrence about this and he said the same thing. He (Wilcox) instilled a certain sort of mental attitude, and early on that stays with you. Dallaglio's been known to be a lively character on the pitch and he (Wilcox) instilled that competitive edge, which you need."

It's surprising, in some respects, to hear Easterby is not dissimilar, especially in his frustration with referees at the tackle area. "I've had a bit of stick from team-mates in the club about having a go at the refs a few times, so I've tried to keep my mouth shut and stay out of trouble."

Like most professional sportspeople, he hates losing, a state of mind compounded by Younger Brother Syndrome - "I'm a sore loser, no matter what it is. Playing one-on-one with Guy in the garden when I was 10 or 11 and he was 14 or 15. Any sport really, but especially against him." He particularly enjoyed the confrontational aspect of being a bowler on the school cricket team, complete with bouncers and verbals.

Easterby went to Australia for a year after school and was then brought into the Irish Exiles under-19 and under-21 set-ups by Phelim McLoughlin and the aforementioned O'Driscoll. Overlooked in the Brian Ashton era and the start of the Warren Gatland reign at second division Leeds, he made the move to Llanelli with furthering his Irish ambitions in mind.

"They've been good to me. Gareth Jenkins has brought my game along and given me a lot of support when I've not been in the Irish squad. Things like that mean a lot to a player. I feel comfortable there," he says, likening Llanelli to Munster. "There's no superstars or prima donnas. There's a great work ethic."

Settled with his girlfriend in a Cardiff apartment, not being Welsh he doesn't feel he's living in a goldfish bowl. He likes that.

One of five debutants in the rejuvenating win over Scotland four years ago, Easterby started in seven successive Tests. His agility and soft hands at the tail of the lineout were the springboard for much of Ireland's running game that season, but, despite hardly missing a tackle, he was frustrated at not getting his mitts on the ball more.

"I watched the win over France in 2000 when it was shown on television recently and apart from the lineouts, I didn't do much else really," he says a tad harshly. "I didn't feel I did a lot more at the time either."

He looked set for a long stay, but even Easterby had to succumb to a torn Achilles' tendon which sidelined him for nine months and effectively put paid to his 2000-01 season. Unluckily for him, his return opportunity coincided with that dismal 32-10 defeat in Murrayfield. Concussion in his next club outing ruled him out of consideration for the next outing in Cardiff, but not enough to erase the memory of a salutary lesson with today in mind.

"You can't always put your finger on why a team performs that way, or why as an individual you don't perform the way you expect. Maybe we underestimated them a little bit, and expected to roll them over, but that was a big low point for myself and Guy."

He returned to feature in O'Sullivan's first 10 games, but was out of favour until working his way back in via last summer's Tests in Tonga and Samoa; impressing O'Sullivan and co with the manner he physically mixed it with the Polynesian islanders.

The wait for the World Cup selection, especially for the back row, was "horrible". O'Sullivan had told the players to leave their phones on, and he was grateful to hear his brother's voice at the end of the phone that morning telling him he was in. "As much as I was delighted, I hadn't really achieved anything, because I didn't want to go out there to make up the numbers."

That he didn't, starting in all bar the opener against Romania, but he had mixed feelings about the experience.

The Argentinian game was too "nerve-racking" to enjoy, the Australian game was one that got away ("maybe now we'd win that game") and against France "we underachieved and underperformed".

But life and rugby moves on, and even in his Ampleworth days he could never have dreamed of beating the reigning world champions at Twickenham with his erstwhile fellow student as opposing captain. His third coming has surely seen him better than ever, and in the last two games especially, not alone has there been the typically huge work-rate, but plenty of ball carrying as well.

"The way the team is playing encourages more players to get their hands on the ball and with the loss of Woody (Keith Wood) other players have had to stand up and take on a lot more responsibility in terms of carrying."

And, now that he's back, Easterby is intent on staying put.

"I really want to move on now. You're only ever a game away from being dropped, and I know that as much as anyone. I'm really enjoying my time in the side at the moment and I genuinely feel we've got the makings of something special."