Team Ulster is just that, a team, though not entirely one without stars. For starters, there is the immense Andy Ward, Jonathan Bell and, of course, David Humphreys. He especially would hate to be thought of as a star, so we'll just have to go with Harry Williams' verdict of his petit general: "He's a superstar."

When a contingent from the Ulster squad visited Aras an Uachtarain on Friday, the joke went as to how much an honour it was to finally meet the great person in question. First Minister David Humphreys. Oh, and President McAleese was there as well.

He hated that, too. Humphreys has had enough brickbats over the years to treat the bouquets as an equal impostor. He is essentially a very modest and private person, who is very conscious of how he is interpreted in the public domain, and detests having a fuss made over him.

Such as the nicknames. Jackie, in reference to a certain Dr Kyle, still sticks. But he knows there's worse things he could be called, and amid the slagging dressing room nature of all these sobriquets, there's an undeniable affection and respect among his peers for an innate talent. Pound for pound, he's still probably Ireland's most gifted rugby player.

Too flaky countered the detractors, but right now though, he's on the crest of a wave. "I hope that answers David Humphreys' critics. He can play any game you want him to play. He's got control, he's got composure," ventured Williams. Last Saturday it was a kicking game, and bang on the money pretty much every time. In the swirling wind, granted some of the ceaseless aerial bombardment may have come up a little shorter than he would have liked, but it all contributed to the unrelenting psychological pressure on Monsieur Sadourny and Co.

"We knew that we were going out with a gameplan and we knew that a lot relied on whether I kicked the ball well," Humphreys said matter-of-factly regarding the tactics he employed. "So we got into position and Simon did the rest."

The line-kicking was immense, especially once he had the bit of a wind behind him after the turnaround. His first return off Colomiers' deep kick-off went from inside one 22 to the other.

His ensuing up-and-under was perfectly placed for a full throttle Stanley McDowell to nail Sadourny - setting up the ruck ball and driving over the next one as well - here was a substitute centre chomping at the bit after five months' enforced idleness.

Cue to Humphreys' almost regulation drop goal. "Thankfully it was an easy one after missing a couple before," he said. But there's no such thing as an easy drop goal in a Euro final, and this was his fourth of the knock-out stages and fifth of the Euro campaign to go with his three tries. He has a sweet drop kick.

After an early penalty for offside, Humphreys realigned the fast up, four-up defence, so there were few thereafter. His tackling was solid, and he was always nimble on his feet, enabling him to weigh up his options.

Save for one kick-out on the full going left to right in the first half, when he was possibly weighing up too many options, until the decision-making moment, he invariably made the right one: such as when weighing up a first-half counter-attack after covering for Mason at full-back and sprinting across field, or cutting through midfield to create more time and space for another raking line-kick. And there was a trademark double skip pass as well, all of which were clear signs of a man in utter control of his game.

Yet, with a resigned air, he said afterwards: "No, I don't think I'll be playing next Saturday. No I don't expect to play next Saturday," he repeated. "I'm just going to relax now and enjoy the whole few days," he added, as if consolation.

Humphreys or Elwood? Ulster will say it has to be Humprheys, and not only as out-half, but as place-kicker, taker of restarts and penalties to touch, and captain as well. Sure he may as well drive the bus, give the team talk, conduct the post-match conference and feed the ducks while he's at it.