Munster gain from sharp Payne

European Cup: After his high-profile arrival, it was to have been Christian Cullen, the All Blacks' record try-scorer, with the Munster number 15 jersey on his back and all guns blazing. Instead, Shaun Payne has slipped almost imperceptibly into the full back role. It was more of a tradesman's entrance really.

Both are Southern Hemisphere imports, but there, one is tempted to observe, the similarities end. Cullen, aka the Paekakariki Express, is a prolific try-scorer with searing pace who was seemingly born to run with the ball. Payne is an ultra-dependable player, nominally a winger, who, after Cullen's injury and Jeremy Staunton's failure to nail down the spot, has been obliged to revert to full back in his first campaign with Munster.

Not that Cullen could have done a whole lot better against Gloucester last week. There won't be a more searching examination of defensive full-back play in this competition. With Duncan McRae and Henry Paul dovetailing as deep-lying playmakers and spreading Gloucester's attacks to the touchlines, or unleashing long, tactical punts or a variety of shorter attacking kicks through the air and on the ground, Payne must have been permanently second-guessing.

"We discussed this at training and there's no way as a full back you can cover all those angles," he says. "You can't cover all the wide runs, all the wide kicks and the short kicks. To be honest, I had to cover a lot of ground last Saturday, and you have to be moving long before those kicks. That is the tough part of full back. Anticipation."

That he emerged relatively unscathed is a credit to his concentration, his nerve and his footballing ability. He had played there before, in his Natal under-21 days, and last season at Swansea. "Full back is more of a challenge than wing at times. A completely different game really, so it takes a little while to get back into it."

So who is this guy? A softly, deliberately spoken, 31-year-old South African Christian, who also has an Irish passport, he reminds you a little of Dion Ó Cuinneagáin, and, like him, you'd imagine he makes very few enemies in this world.

Payne is far from the prototype of the modern-day, well-travelled professional rugby player. Rather, Munster are inclined to bring in experience and invariably attract players who are inclined to commit themselves for the remainder of their careers, who aren't just passing through for a quick buck. It's a two-way thing, of course, for Munster have that effect on their imports.

Even before meeting Shaun Payne, you know he's cut from that cloth. Welsh journalists talk of a nice fellow who took to Swansea and its people much like the town and its folk took to him. He stayed four years there, played 120 games and scored almost 40 tries.

He and his wife, Michelle, worked in the club's office, so when the club was put into administration and they had their wages halved, it was quickly dubbed the House of Payne.

Yet unlike Colin Charvis, Darren Morris and others, Payne did not take a severance package, preferring to "stick it out". This week, reflecting on his time in Wales in the team room in Thomond Park as the wind and rain whip up against the windows, he reckons it cost him more money to stay.

"But there was a good group of guys there and we stuck together. We actually had a good bit of fun. It was a challenge. We obviously lost a whole lot of big names but we put together a few good results."

The fans voted him their player of the year last season, when Payne ably filled in at full back and centre, as well as on the wing.

But for somewhat similar circumstances at Natal, Payne mightn't have made the initial move. John "Plum" Plumtree, his one-time coach at Natal, had lured him to Swansea at a difficult time for South Africa, and for its rugby, particularly for the Sharks.

From Durban, Payne had come through the ranks, through underage sides and the 21s to the provincial and Super 12 side.

"The year Plum called was also the year that (Ian) McIntosh left Natal, that Gary Teichmann left, that Andre Joubert left, James Small left - the whole team had broken up and there was talk of (Andre) Markgraaff coming in to coach. All these changes. 'What's happening here?' And then Plum called, y'know.

"I had thought about playing in Europe. Obviously I knew I was Irish-qualified, Irish passport and all that, so I was able to play in the UK. And Michelle was able to come as well, so we decided to give it a bash."

It all started so promisingly. Swansea won the title and reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup in his second year at St Helen's. "My first two years were the best, but in the last two years we lost a lot of forwards and things were definitely very frustrating."

Payne had come to this part of the world mindful that he was qualified to play for Ireland through his paternal grandmother, Maria Ester Williams, from Sligo. Though born in South Africa, his father, Lawrence, had retained his Irish citizenship.

"It's something that a lot of South Africans tend to do. When it came to the '94 elections, everyone was very nervous at the time and obviously a lot of white South Africans had been from Ireland or England or wherever, and retained it as a back-up, so that's why my dad did it."

He was called in to Irish squads by Warren Gatland, when Eddie O'Sullivan was the assistant coach, "but nothing ever materialised". Then, after three years' residency, it was expected he would be picked for Wales last season, but again it didn't work out that way.

"I spoke to (Steve) Hansen and all that, but there was a hiccup over playing for South Africa Sevens in '95. We got clearance from SARFU and all the paperwork, to prove that I'd never played for the South African A side and all that sort of rubbish, but by the time I'd got all that cleared up Swansea had gone into administration, Munster contacted, and the deal was done. It just never happened."

If either disappointed him he doesn't let it show. "My focus has always been to perform as best as I can for my club, and if you play well enough there the rest will look after itself. I wouldn't say I was overly worried about it. If you're going to get disappointed, you've sort of lost the battle really. The focus is still on club, or province in this case."

Choosing Munster was easy once they chose him. "There's hardly a bigger name in Europe, is there? I wouldn't be looking too far beyond that to be honest, y'know."

It hasn't disappointed him in the least.

"Very well run. Professional. Excellent players, brilliant pack, good backs as well, no doubting that. But I'd say generally just the level of professionalism and ability of the players is a step above what I was used to in the club scene in Wales."

He and Michelle had often been to Ireland before; he has friends in Belfast and they've visited Dublin and holidayed in Kerry. Based in Douglas, where he's renting a house from team-mate Frankie Sheahan, he and Michelle have one boy, Dylan (born in Swansea, they wanted a contemporary Welsh name), who'll be two in February, and a second child is due in August.

They will be raised as good Christians. "I grew up in a Christian home, values which have been taught to me since I was born. It's just something I've always believed in. Michelle's a Christian as well. I want my son and our second child to have the same upbringing I had. I just think it's a really good grounding to have, especially for kids.

"It's taught me to be a good person, to take others into consideration, and just to lead a generally good life. Just all the basic principles of Christianity. I would want my son to grow up a decent human being. I wouldn't want him to slag people off, or robbing and burning and this type of rubbish, and I want him to grow up with a good circle of friends."

So he's not one for upping and leaving just for the sake of his rugby career, but prefers to set down his roots somewhere and make it a life-enhancing experience. Yet he can cast a sympathetic glance back toward Wales and the current talk of Cardiff seeking to merge with the Celtic Warriors.

"That's more guys who are losing their jobs," he observes.

He hadn't been inclined to leave Swansea, and it'll be the same in Munster.

Payne will be 32 next month and this will be the final port of call in his playing career, whether or not he and Munster agree to extend his current, two-year contract.

"I definitely wouldn't look to move again, that's for sure. I'm the sort of person - how can I say this? - I wouldn't be able to just snap in and out of circles the whole time. I like to get to know people slowly and form good friendships. When I finish playing rugby I will finish here, that's for sure."

Beyond that, whether they stay in Ireland or return to South Africa he's not sure. By then, like any pro, first and foremost he hopes Munster will have won more trophies, and that he will have started as many games as possible.

"I'm under no illusions, Christian Cullen, Anthony (Horgan), JK (John Kelly) - there's a lot of healthy competition there."

And to make as many friends as possible.

"If you just live in your own country you can become very insular, and we did in South Africa. It gives you a far better base in life."