Maggs' focus will be central

RUGBY: John O'Sullivan talks to the Bath inside centre/left wing about Ireland's recent progress and his hopes for the coming Six Nations championship

Kevin Maggs appears to be a pretty selfless individual, willing to temporarily subdue his rugby preferences in deference to the team or squad ethic. It's not that he's uninterested, soft or apathetic regarding his rugby career, it's just that he can see the bigger picture.

Recently, he has plied his trade for Bath, not in his favoured role of inside centre but on the left wing, a position in which he has also played for Ireland.

"I basically had to go there for the team. It was either no one or me in terms of the centres who could switch. We needed a goal-kicker so Ollie Barkley came into the centre and they (the Bath management) said I had more basic speed then some of the others.

"Ollie came in and kicked well and you couldn't really drop him after that. I stayed there for a couple of weeks which I didn't mind doing but obviously I would prefer to be in the midfield."

Maggs' standing at the club can be gleaned from the fact that they left wing Tom Voyce, the leading try-scorer in the Heineken European Cup, on the bench. The 27-year-old Bristol born player adopts the same philosophical approach to his Irish obligations.

"We are a squad and that's what we have said all along. Whether Ronan (O'Gara) comes in or Hendo (Rob Henderson) comes in or me for that matter, we are all there to do the same job when you look at it clinically. We all want the same thing, the same result.

"We have to get that understanding through all of us because it can change so quickly throughout the season due to injury or whatever.

"It was nice to get back in the team when Rob (Henderson) was injured and obviously play a few games in which the results went our way. It's gone well.

"It's been like that for Rob and me all the way through: Rob's been in, I've been in and then Rob's been back in and now I'm back. I think it works well because we keep each other on our toes.

"He (Henderson) played brilliantly on the Lions and I thought he was one of the finds of the Lions tour. He has struggled with injury since then and hopefully I can just keep edging him out now really. Henderson was Ireland's first choice through the aborted Six Nations last Spring, producing excellent displays against Italy (three tries) and France.

Maggs played in the end of season international against Romania and was on the bench for the first of the rescheduled Six Nations matches against Scotland in the Autumn. He subsequently started against Wales, England, Samoa and New Zealand and on Sunday will once again partner Brian O'Driscoll in midfield against Wales at Lansdowne Road.

He looks forward to the match with undisguised optimism, tempered by a hint of caution. "They've made nine changes from the game in Cardiff, we have lost four players. They also have a good record in Dublin but I believe we have progressed from years gone by.

Our aim now is to consistently perform and Wales offers the first opportunity. There's no point in winning one, losing two and then winning two. We have to be playing to a level all the time. The way things are going now is definitely a step in the right direction what with bringing in a defensive coach and being more organised and having a bigger management team.

"It is the way forward and we have to make the most of it. We have to draw what we can from their expertise and translate it to the pitch.

"At the end of the day it is down to the players. The attitude, commitment and effort has always been there from the players; it's more of a case of the organisation been introduced."

The defeat against New Zealand still rankles, the nagging feeling of an opportunity lost still festering. "It was very frustrating. We felt that we let ourselves down, we let them away with it.

"The first half took a lot out of us. Being critical of ourselves, we weren't quite ready to go to that next level. That's where we have to strive to get to and I believe we will.

"The signs are there even from small things like the intensity levels in training. We didn't have enough left in the tank against New Zealand and we couldn't cope with the pace in the last 20 minutes. I made one or two defensive mistakes myself.

"I let ( Jonah) Lomu in for one try when I should have read it better and got him. . . or at least try to get him," he laughed.

"I suppose we just let ourselves down, stepped off the gas. We probably didn't think they were going to come back. I think though it is a measure of how far we have come that we feel disappointed. That is the level we want to achieve and that will only come from playing them regularly."

The opportunity to progress arises on Sunday and while Maggs acknowledges that Wales will be fired up, he feels that the injury disruptions to the Ireland side could be turned into a positive.

"The incentive is there for the guys coming in. They have an opportunity and will want to take it. All of us do."

He would dearly love to beat Wales and head to Twickenham and a clash with England full of confidence.

His exuberant celebrations post victory over the English in Dublin last autumn demonstrated how much he cared.

"I have certainly been making the most of the fact that we beat them last time out. It's great for me working with some many of the English guys. It's nice to get one over."