Gerry Thornleytalks to Leinster's Australian-born Scottish international who relishes the opportunities to test himself against the best

TO NATHAN Hines’s huge regret, a knee injury denied him the chance to play at Croke Park and go mano-a-mano with Leinster team-mates in the Six Nations finale. But his explanation for missing that game underlines his professionalism and also commitment and responsibilities to Leinster.

“If it was a World Cup final then you probably would have pushed yourself but there’s other things to consider like this game and further on down the line. If I’d played and really done some damage to myself then that might have been it, so I think the decision might not have been the best for Scotland and for myself at the time but it was a more prudent decision to pull out and get myself right for the tail-end of the season.”

He watched the game in a pub in Ranelagh with his dad and Shaun Berne. “It was good to see them (Scotland) win. The performance wasn’t much different to the rest of the tournament but the result was different and it was good for us to get off the bottom of the table.”

The 33-year-old lock is manifestly enjoying his time here too, although perhaps he would have to say that. “Well, I don’t have to,” he says, laughing, and repeats himself for impact. “I don’t have to! No, I really like it. The coaching staff are good and understanding; everything is set up for you to play and get ready for playing games and playing the best you can so that’s what I’m happy about. The results are good, the players are really good so I can’t complain.”

The Scotsman from Wagga Wagga in Australia is not one of those who pine for the warmer climes of home even if, to his surprise, he has found Dublin colder than Edinburgh, where he lived for seven years. “But I’d take an organised set-up and enjoying my rugby rather than the sun. It’s just the guys’ work ethic and stuff. It’s the way they approach games, the way they prepare themselves and the way they push themselves. They want to be better than they were last year. They want to improve all the time which is very pleasing.”

Whenever Leinster are about to play a French team in Europe, Hines is usually trotted out to give his viewpoint, based on his experiences of two seasons in France with Perpignan. Aside from sharing the commonly-held belief that Clermont are a very well-balanced team he says “the thing is they’ve got a tendency to keep control of the game”.

As someone who often defends close in, he’s particularly mindful of the threat posed by Morgan Parra. “Anytime a forward or anyone steps out of line he can take care of that,” he says, adding “it’s all about momentum in their game as well, so the thing we’ve got to concentrate on is getting our defensive line right and moving forward and trying to cut the space down. If we do that then it’s going to give us more of a chance to win. If we don’t then it’s going to be a lot harder for us.”

He also believes Clermont are “the exception to the rule” in being “solid performers at home or away in Europe” and that the disciplined regime of Vern Cotter, coupled with Brock James’ control at 10, ensures they commit less turnovers than most French sides. In his time with Perpignan, Hines came to know Jamie Cudmore (Paul O’Connell’s sparring partner from last year at Thomond) quite well and notes with amusement that the abrasive Canadian lock’s nickname is “Cuddles”.

In France players such as Cudmore are known as warriors, or un guerrier. “That’s what they call guys who put it about. They’re called warriors and that would I’d say, sum him up, yeah.”

Hines isn’t exactly a shrinking violet himself.

“I suppose so but it’s not something I work on. It’s something I have to watch sometimes but, like I said about Jamie, it’s just the way he plays and you just get on with it, and maybe teams might need one.”

Hines is also one of the best offloading secondrows around.

“I don’t know what it is. Maybe I just don’t like hitting the deck. That might be it! It’s too cold. When I played league I did the same thing. I might not do it as much as I’d like to but it’s something I like doing.”

He has another year to go on his contract and would be of a mind to stay longer if the opportunity arose “but that’s not for me to decide”. Games like this vindicate his decision to join.

“Games like this and opportunities to play on a big stage with good players and a real opportunity to win something . . . the reason I came here was because I’ve a real feeling the guys take it a step up when they come to a big game and can close out big games. So if it’s tight in the end I’ve full confidence that we’ll be on the right side of the scoreboard.”