Aiming to deliver on previous promise

John O'Sullivan talks to Blackrock forward Victor Costello, who returnsto the Ireland starting line-up for the first time in over three years

Victor Costello didn't hang around, briefly accepting the congratulations of his Leinster cohorts Ken Ging, Brett Igoe and Willie Anderson before slipping quietly onto the team bus and the short journey to the sanctuary of the Glenview Hotel.

Other players mooched around Dr Hickey Park, fingered to sate the media scrum that clamoured for interviews. At one stage in his career, Costello would have poured forth to a knot of pressmen, enjoyed the banter.

His return to the starting line-up of the national side for the first time in a little over three years, selected to play against Australia at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, was eminently newsworthy but the only headlines that he craves these days are post-match.

Ensconced in the conservatory of the hotel bar, Costello, affable and relaxed, reflects on his hasty retreat.

"I didn't want to be hanging around talking about what I would or wouldn't do on Saturday. I've done that before and haven't delivered. I'm beginning to sound horribly mature, but I don't want to talk myself up. The only statements I'm looking to make are those on the pitch.

"I'm delighted, thrilled to be back. I thought I would always get back some day and so did close friends and family. Some people wrote me off - as they had every right to do. It's not about proving them wrong. I want to go out and play like I promised I would if I ever managed to get another opportunity.

"I talked about getting one more shot; well, I have it now and there are no excuses. That's why I wanted to talk it down, that's why I cleared away from the training session quickly."

Costello wins his 24th cap against the Australians; his 23rd came as a replacement in the recent World Cup qualifier against Romania in Limerick. The chasm, caps-wise, is pronounced prior to that day, almost three years to his 22nd appearance for his country, the first Test against Australia Down Under in 1999.

His form over the last 18 months screamed for a recall, but it was a conversation in the summer that provided the catalyst to rejoin the national squad.

"Eddie (O'Sullivan) and myself had a chat when we were down in Poland during the summer and he explained to me what he wanted to see me do, as he did with everyone I'm sure.

"I went out and worked on those and worked on them when I got back to Leinster. He's been loyal to me by picking me and giving me the opportunity, as he said he would. I want to repay that loyalty by doing what he asked off me.

"I am not ever going to be the complete player, but I like to think that I have improved my defence, improved my ball-carrying and offloading and those things that I didn't do well in the past. In that respect I am going into this match as a better player than the last occasion when I was picked regularly for Ireland."

Costello has been named as blindside flanker on Saturday, revisiting a role he embraced when winning his first cap against the

US on January 6th, 1996. He isn't fazed in switching from number eight, the suggestion being he won't fulfil the old-fashioned blindside's remit.

"It's not as if I was handed the guidelines for a number six manual and asked to read it cover to cover. I played with some good sixs in my time. I know what Axel (Anthony) and Gleeso (Keith Gleeson) expect from me, and there is a diversity from those traditional values.

"I'm happy with my new responsibilities. I've a lot of experience, a lot of miles. I know what I can do and so do the team. Nobody expects me to fire out an 80-yard pass, as Eric Miller

would do. I have a clearly defined role.

"I am not thinking about who I am playing against; I am not thinking about who my last cap was against; all I am thinking about is that it is a long time since I was picked in a starting XV for Ireland. I'm not about to let anyone down.

"Saturday will be a special moment. I'm not going to sit here and tell you we are going to beat Australia. But we are capable of doing it. We can beat any team on a given day. It's all about us, how we perform, how we get things right in training and on the pitch and that we bring a consistency to all performances, not just Australia."