Prince seeks to use charm

The completion of a unique European hat-trick would be an appropriate finale to a remarkable rookie international year for a player who has contributed more than most to the rollercoaster. Peter Stringer is still only a kid really, and a whippet at that, for there's more meat in a cheese sandwich. Yet he plays like a veteran and this season his performances have been gigantic.

He's cocky without being arrogant about it, a bright, self-assured little 22-year-old, who's quiet enough in the Munster and Irish set-ups though neither shy nor slow-witted enough to tug the forelock. On the pitch there's a strong argument for making Stringer the Irish player of the season, such has been his consistent excellence for Ireland and province, and such has been the way he has stoked the Irish playing revolution this season.

The Stringer trademark is his pass. Whether or not the pass itself is actually that much quicker than, say, Tom Tierney's or Brian O'Meara's is a source of some debate. But his swiftness of mind and low body positioning all help to ensure that he clears the ball quicker than anyone else.

According to Stringer it came in spite of rather than because of his formative coaching.

"I didn't really look at anybody and copy it. I remember going to all these clinics when I was 15 or 16, and trying to pass the way they'd show me, and I was never able to do it. They always told me I was wrong but it was just something I felt comfortable doing." Most probably his brain is his greatest gain. He makes his mind up before he gets the ball and he consistently takes the right option. Take the instant after David Wallace had manufactured a turnover against a counter-attacking Stephane Ougier in the Toulouse semi-final. Quick as a flash, Stringer box-kicked into the vacant space to take Munster deep into the Toulouse 22.

There's a hint of George Gregan in the way he quick-wittedly creates that extra yard or second of space for the close-in target runners, by running wide for an extra stride before offloading, albeit thus far without the same degree of handling variations that the masterful and experienced Wallaby scrumhalf brings to the pitch.

Another undoubted virtue is his workrate and tackle count. He remembers it starting one day on the Cork Constitution under-8s against Youghal. "A huge breed of a team," he recalls. "The pitch was so small and you'd tackle one guy, he'd pass it and you'd get up and tackle the next guy. I just loved it from then, tackling guys bigger than you." Which, at 5ft 7in and 11 stone, is pretty much every time.

That he was destined to play scrumhalf is pretty self-evident. "It was the only position I could play," he says, laughing self-mockingly.

Stringer's father played a bit with Dolphin, where he was club president recently, and his three younger brothers all play scrum-half as well.

He was formally inducted to the game when he was six years old, like current teammates such as Ronan O'Gara, Frankie Sheahan, John Kelly (and even Dave Wallace for a while), in the Con under-age mini rugby set-up, where he learnt the game for six years. The under-12s were an exceptionable crop, coached by one of the biggest influences in his career, Fred Casey; this was the origin of the Stringer-O'Gara legend. Famously, amongst the trips to Wales, England and France, was the inaugural European under-12 championships in France. With clubs representing 30 countries, both of Con's representatives, their under-12s and their under-11s, won their respective tournaments.

"In the final we played a Romanian team and they were the biggest crowd we ever played against. They looked, literally, like an under-16 or under-18 side. We didn't know what we were in for. We ended up drawing the match 3-3 but because of previous results we came through. It was incredible."

Stringer remembers Casey telling him that a few of them would make it all the way, and that the little scrumhalf would be one of them. O'Gara, of course, would be another. First permed together at under-8s, and coached by O'Gara's father at under-10s, the diminutive Cork halfbacks seem to be joined at the hip (or else by Mick Galwey). "People out there probably say one name and the other comes off as well. It's been good the relationship we've had, playing over the years. We're good friends which helps. He drinks though, and I don't," Stringer adds with a wry smile.

Another landmark in Stringer's evolution was being captain of a losing Presentation College Cork side in the final of the Munster Schools Junior Cup away to St Munchin's in Limerick. His first taste of the Thomond factor. "It's probably the worst rugby experience I have to date. We were red-hot favourites. Going to Thomond at that age, we didn't know what to expect. We played against schools in Cork and it was grand, we won 'em easily but we weren't prepared for going to Limerick. They literally rucked us off the park. It ended up 5-0 but we didn't know what hit us, because at that age you think it's a nice friendly game." All of which a victorious opponent, Marcus Horan, still takes great delight in.

Stringer subbed for one season on the seniors and played the second year, with Pres winning the Cup both times. In the six years Stringer was at the school, Pres won five senior Cups, the last of them in 1996 being the school's last triumph. In Stringer's easy-going and self-confident nature (without being arrogant about it) and in his quick-witted and fearless approach on the pitch, you sense the mark of Kidney - which dates back to his Pres days - is strong. "A lot of coaches, you'd see them at training and you'd have no association with them after. Declan wants to get to know the person as well as the player, making sure every aspect of your life has a balance so that your rugby is always at its highest level." Thanks largely to Kidney, success has almost come too quickly for Stringer, obliging him to temporarily abandon a degree in chemistry at UCC halfway through its four years. Kidney promoted him to the Munster team last season, admittedly when others were injured. Tellingly though, Kidney stuck by the player this season after the World Cup, despite the Irish management plumping for Munster rivals Tom Tierney and Brian O'Meara. Stringer has debunked the theory that size matters, but he's had to convince the doubters, Messrs Gatland, Lenihan and Danaher uppermost amongst them.

"It was a weird time really, that whole World Cup thing. I think it kind of helped me actually, the fact that the two of them were away, it helped me kind of get my place in the Munster side."

Having played for the Irish schools, touring Australia, and the Irish under-21s, his time had to come. He was kept on the bench for the English game, probably no bad thing, before playing against Scotland. "I think it helped that there were so many new guys around. If I felt that if I was going in there as the only new one, it would have been difficult. Instead I had no fears at all. People talked about not beating Scotland for 12 years but any Scottish side I had played against, schools or under-21s, we won easily enough." He admits it's true that he had giggled repeatedly in the pre-match dressing-room. "I was so hyper to get out on the field. I had heard of stories of people breaking down before their debuts, but I was laughing. I just couldn't wait to get out there. I remember when I was younger, if I couldn't sleep I used to dream of playing at Lansdowne Road and running out there, and I would always drift off. And then actually doing it was unbelievable." So his somewhat scary opening 15 minutes wasn't down to nerves, more excess adrenalin; prompting assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan to bark down commands to the touchline for Stringer to just put the ball in O'Gara's mits. "Maybe I was just carried away with everything around me. Woody had told me that would happen. Everything around you is new and maybe you're not concentrating. So I just had to get my head down and say: `Hey, there's a match to be played here."'

By the time David Humphreys arrived to turn the screw with his inspirational cameo, Stringer had found his range, flinging the ball out in front of his outhalf, whether he liked it or not. "When Humphreys came on I think he didn't know what hit him really," he admits, laughing at the memory. "There were a few off the top (of the lineout) where he found himself over the gain line." "But if you can get the inside guys running on to the ball quickly then the line becomes a bit more staggered as opposed to having a flat line, just to get everybody moving on to it," he says, explaining his approach.

For both that game, and the ensuing match at home to Italy, memorably Stringer was pictured next to Mick Galwey having sought out his spiritual leader.

"He'd die for the cause, and he was just someone I wanted to be next to when the cameras went by; up, down, and up again," he explains with self-deprecating humour once more.

As memorable as his rookie Irish season was, Stade de France and all that, Munster's Euro odyssey has rivalled it. The one-point wins over Saracens, and the manner of them, were unforgettable, while the semi-final in Bordeaux eclipsed even that. "To see the number of people travelling over, despite it being a difficult place to get to, was something very special and the memories will last forever."

This time last year, Stringer was a member of the UCC side which won the Student's European Cup. He recalls presenting the trophy during Ulster's European Cup final win, adding: "Now here I am a year later, actually playing in one at Twickenham. Twickenham. It's unbelievable."

All the autograph hunters, the pop starlike reception at a fund-raising fashion show in Cork, and the sight of supporters wearing Munster shirts with the number 9 and his name emblazoned on the back. He smiles contendedly.

"Sure you have to love it, don't you?"