The Leinster wing is happy to help confound media naysayers, writes Johnny Watterson.

Denis Hickie addressed the press yesterday. Uncomplicated, direct and reflective - the left wing gave the impression there was an issue that needed to be dealt with. Some in the RDS Dodder Room may have seen what he said about Irish rugby as a metaphor for his career since getting back from serious injury.

Hickie talked about the Irish team, the Munster team and the Leinster team. He spoke of how people in print and broadcasting had become doubters back in November because of a poor international series and one or two uninspiring Heineken European Cup games.

He spoke of an almost casual dismissal of Irish rugby that now transpires to have been incorrect. Hickie's tone was one of wonder, of how commentators could get it all so wrong and view everything so simplistically, refusing to look further than the last result.

The image suited the player. Hickie himself has been written off too - with absurd haste - by some. Injury and loss of form had pushed him down the ladder, one he is successfully climbing again. He has supporters but Ireland's first-choice left wing last season has not played an international match this season. Hickie had a birthday in February that took him from 29 to 30. One birthday, he may be thinking, doesn't unravel a career.

"I think this is a good (European Cup) semi-final for a lot of reasons," he said. "I've spoken to one or two lads already about it. In November I remember distinctly after the internationals and after the first three games in the European Cup that a lot of people in this room would have said Ireland rugby was in the doldrums. They would have said a lot of players are finished . . . and we need new blood, that Ireland is a team that is going to struggle and that both Leinster and Munster wouldn't get out of their pools.

"It was being said that this was going to be a tough season for Irish rugby. Things were looking bleak after November. We were certainly being told that we weren't going anywhere and Munster were being told exactly the same.

"Credit to the guys. The players and coaches never lost sight of what needed to be done. We know what was needed because we've done it. We're training, we're playing. We know what's involved and what's required. Five months down the line and Ireland have won a Triple Crown and we've two teams in the semi-final of the European Cup. That's testament to the players and coaches, who a lot of people had given up on collectively and individually.

"What we've done is the best way to answer such scepticism. It hasn't been a bad old year for rugby all of a sudden."

Players need a well-developed sense of optimism whereas the media often work from a position of scepticism. Middle ground is sometimes hard to find but Hickie's observations are largely accurate. Players and coaches have turned it around. Leinster's season is now a success while the player himself is showing flashes of what once made him Eddie O'Sullivan's first-choice left wing.

"I think everyone would have said there's a lot of work to do if you lose one or two Heineken Cup games," he said. "But every single year teams that do well at the start don't do well in the post-Christmas games. People get injured and there are always upsets. Wasps were expected to go far - didn't even make it out of the group. If we had given up in November, it wouldn't even have been worth turning up for work. I don't think it's the nature of those guys (Leinster and Munster), who I would know very well, that it (giving up) was ever going to be the case."

Leinster, no less than Munster, have shown doggedness and flair and Hickie has been part of it. His determination and work ethic are tangible.

"It's actually easier when you are not playing. You're hungrier to get back in," he says. "I've been in the position a few times

. . . on the outside. On the one hand you can say the pressure is on the player but on the other hand the opportunity is also with the player."

Hickie has been taking his opportunity with some style.

LEINSTER SQUAD: Forwards: W Green, R Corrigan, R McCormack, E Byrne, D Blaney, B Blaney, M O'Kelly, B Williams, C Jowitt, N Ronan, K Gleeson, J Heaslip, E Miller. Backs: G Easterby, B O'Riordan, F Contepomi, G Dempsey, B O'Driscoll, K Lewis, S Horgan, D Hickie, G D'Arcy, R Kearney, J Hepworth, G Brown.