Northern pieces fit nicely into this jigsaw

IRELAND V FRANCE THE ULSTER FACTOR: Keith Dugganexpects the Ulster players to play a pivotal role in this evening's game at Croke Park

WHEN MATT Williams checked the teletext and saw Paddy Wallace’s name on the Ireland team to face France this evening, he couldn’t contain his joy. The Ulster coach is back in Australia for a couple of weeks, thus missing the heavy snowfalls that fell across Belfast during the week. On the morning of the team announcement, Wallace identified the decision of Williams to install him as Ulster’s regular inside centre as a key reason behind his elevation to the Irish team after a long and sometimes frustrating few seasons as an understudy.

Williams, though, was reluctant to overstate his input to Wallace’s achievement, instead happily predicting how his man’s new partnership with Brian O’Driscoll might work.

“Paddy’s ability and attitude were never in question and it was clear that he had the talent to go on and play at the elite level. He has worked hard and played so well to put himself in this position. And what I think and hope now is that Paddy can really give Brian O’Driscoll the space he needs to do his stuff. He brings so much to this position. You know, Brian O’Driscoll is there with the best centres in the world and some of the things that have been said and written with him in the past few seasons have been disgraceful. So I am really excited to see if playing alongside Paddy can just get him just that bit of space.”

The immediate success of the central partnership may be critical to Ireland’s success in this Six Nations. But the inclusion of Wallace and his Ulster team-mate, Stephen Ferris, at number six is a handsome reflection of the welcome return to form for the province after several tumultuous seasons.

It is apt that a decade after Ulster pioneered what has been a stunning trail of Irish provincial success in Europe that there should be a renewed buzz around Ravenhill again. The parallels between playing within a strong and confident club structure and making an impact at international level cannot be overstated, as Ferris alluded to when he spoke after learning of his selection this week.

“Definitely. When you are playing good rugby and with Ulster getting a few wins, it would have been really disappointing this time if I hadn’t made the grade. Last year, Ulster were sitting at the bottom of the table and confidence was low in general so it wouldn’t have felt as bad not getting picked. Matt has put a tremendous amount of work into me as a player and he has been an influence on me mentally. He has helped me get my head right. Before, I would have just gone out there running around with my hair on fire. He has got me to calm myself down and to think about my game. And I am really enjoying doing that.”

Ferris seems to belong to the long Ulster tradition of producing huge yet seemingly gentle men who have the ability to reap havoc on a rugby field. David Humphreys, Operations Director at Ulster, chuckles down the phone at this suggestion.

“Well, I don’t think any of us who know Stephen well would ever describe him as gentle. All I know is that when I was playing outhalf, it was great to see his name on the team-sheet because he is just such a powerful player and getting stronger all the time, he handles the ball well and is fantastic at creating space.

“And Ireland has been producing an incredibly high standard of backrow forwards for 10 years now that it is extremely hard to break into the Irish side. But I do genuinely feel that if Stephen gets a run of games that he can become one of our great backrow exponents.”

Ferris will be the lone Ulster accent in what is largely a Munster pack wearing green. Ulster’s famous Christmas victory down at Thomond Park gives him plenty of credit in terms of bragging rights, but as he grinningly admits: “As the only Ulsterman there, I keep quiet in case they gang up on me.”

But although he is joining a unit that train and play together week-in week-out, there is no sense he is crashing the party.

“The Irish backrow is so competitive. Munster are playing good stuff and Ulster have stepped up their game, so it is a tough contest. David Wallace is probably playing the some of the best rugby he has played in his career. And to play alongside a guy like that is something to look forward to. As for myself, I think there are definitely improvements to my game that I can make. And being in an environment where I can learn from guys like David Wallace and Paul O’Connell who have that experience behind them will hopefully stand to me well.

“My lineout work will be one of the issues. I never really got much lineout done with Ulster over the last few years. It is only this year that I have become involved a lot more and so, coming into the autumn, it began to feel as if I was a lineout option. And Paulie and Donncha and the rest of the guys have confidence in me now. And it is great to feel that. Just to get that bit of confidence in the lineout when you go in can really have advantages for the rest of your game.”

It is easy to imagine that it must be slightly more difficult for the Ulstermen to fit into a jigsaw made primarily of Leinster and Munster pieces. Even though provincial loyalties melt away once players turn up for international assignments, there is no escaping the fact that recent Irish selections have been overwhelmingly dominated by Leinster and Munster representation and that, therefore, it may be tougher for the Ulster players to develop the same kind of intuition and empathy the players from the other two provinces have from playing together year-round.

“Well, it might seem that way, but I feel at the top level of the game that isn’t so much of a factor,” says David Humphreys.

“These are players at the peak of their game with a common ambition to play for Ireland and for the team to do well. It doesn’t take long to get settled.

“If you take Paddy, his experience of having played number 10 for Ulster and Ireland gives him a real appreciation of the demands of space and the pressure that the outhalf faces, and that gives us a great advantage.

“Paddy has always been a really versatile player, I remember him coming in at fullback for Ulster and doing well there, and then suffering setbacks with injury and moving to the 10. But his form at 12 has been exceptional and that has been reflected in this selection.”

The Magners League victory against Munster mattered deeply to the Ulster players as a true means of measuring the progress they have made this year. A terrific Heineken Cup win over Harlequins would follow, before they finally bowed out of Europe with a fine away performance against Stade Francais. Dealing with Munster in Ravenhill is one matter, but to win in Limerick in the manner they did was deeply gratifying.

“I think that there was just that kind of buzz,” Ferris recalls. “You get it before games sometimes. The changing room went really quiet and there was just something about the day that we felt it might happen. And in fairness, if you threw the ball between a Munster player and one of us, it would have bounced for us.

“It was one of those days and you have to enjoy them. I definitely could have played better – I slipped off a few tackles. But I am always hard on myself. I always want to improve. And it was a good marker to lay down against a good Munster team.”

Williams sighs for a moment when asked about that game, as he holds an ambivalent attitude.

“It was an extraordinary night, yeah. But it was also just another game, mate. Whether it had a big influence on the boys, well, that is for them to say. I enjoyed it; it was an entertaining game and one that I will never forget.

“But the thing is, when we go back down there to play them again, we have to try and do the same thing. We went out a couple of weeks later to Stade with a bunch of kids and played brilliantly, so we just have to keep going every week. And the same holds true for the boys within the Ireland set-up, whether they are playing France or England.”

That has certainly been Ferris’s attitude: he quietly but firmly brushed off the suggestion that his name might be on the long list for the Lions tour.

“I just think about the next game. Right now, that is France. You can have a loss of form or an injury so there is just no point in thinking too far ahead.”

He beams at the mention of Sebastian Chabal and concedes that his mother is “a Chabal fanatic”.

”I just hope she will be cheering for me the next day. He is just one of these characters that always seem to be there on the pitch. It is just his look and his appearance that could put many a player off. But the Munster lads know him from Sale and I do think everyone is confident going in on Saturday.”

This is the thing. February optimism is high and Ireland have already been tipped as likely Grand Slam contenders in several quarters. For Ulster fans, the input of the local boys will be critical, with Ferris seeking to oppose himself in the loose and Wallace taking on an intriguing role. David Humphreys spent Thursday snowed in but intends to be in Croke Park this evening, while in Australia, Matt Williams will be up in the middle of the night to watch the broadcast.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. One of the great joys of your life is seeing players that you believe in being rewarded, and so to see Paddy running out the next day is going to be special. And to see Paddy and Stephen there for the anthems, and maybe to see big Tom Court coming off the bench late in the game, will be one of the great joys of my coaching career.”

‘The Irish backrow is so competitive. Munster are playing good stuff and Ulster have stepped up their game, so it is a tough contest. David Wallace is probably playing some of the best rugby he has played in his career. And to play alongside a guy like that is something to look forward to.

– Stephen Ferris