IRELAND v NEW ZEALAND: Eoin Reddan is a scrapper. Every nine jersey he hasever worn has been fought for tooth and nail, writes Johnny Watterson

WE HADN’T pinned Eoin Reddan as the poster boy for levity, more straight back, folded arms. We didn’t profile him as a smaller version of the wise-cracking, self-effacing joker Donncha O’Callaghan. We never had him as the messer at the back of the bus, not a shirker but a worker, a thinker with a straight stare and tight lips. So what do you need to improve on from the match against South Africa, Eoin?

“Interceptions would be a good one,” he replies, perhaps seeking a little catharsis, maybe even understanding. Shovelling the ball into the hands of Juan Smith, who races away for a try is an issue Reddan clearly wishes to get to first.

The intercept try he also knows may have been glaringly in the spotlight and punished harshly but it was not the only grievous error of the day. It’s one to suck up okay but there is always comfort in that he is still preferred to Peter Stringer and Isaac Boss.

“South Africa were very competitive, in the scrum, at the breakdown and in the lineout and those three things need to be better this week,” he says. “As well as that, in the backline we turned over a bit of ball. So when you add up those four things, backs dropping the ball, scrums and lineouts and rucks, it was very hard to get going.

“If the problems in those areas are massive it would be a big problem, but if they are small little things then you can fix them; you know, a guy dropping the ball you can fix that; me giving an interception, you can fix that and all of a sudden it’s a different game.”

Ireland have been talking a different game all week and often in the past they have been able to deliver. Reddan also understands that few are saying the Ireland team are poor but he knows many are asking why the mojo has gone walkabout.

He looks to collective tightening up. He knows he probably won’t be suckered again. He believes not as many balls will be spilled, although it could be raining. He looks to a better scrum, a more efficient lineout.

The Heineken Cup winner also understands the consequences of Ireland falling short of fixing all of those things. Reddan senses doubt hanging in the air as the issue turns to Ireland’s capacity to play at the necessary tempo for 80 minutes without lapses against the best team in the world.

“Of course I think we’re capable of that,” he says. “A lot of the players have played New Zealand before and no one is under any illusions. No one here is going to try and tell you we were brilliant against South Africa; we know we could be better and you all know we could be better

“I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved with three very successful teams, in Munster, Leinster and Wasps. The core thing with everyone is belief that you can do things that people tell you you can’t do. You walk into a media conference and everyone will tell you that you haven’t got a hope

“These things happen all the time in those teams and the belief within the squad is to prove people wrong and push through. That’s individually and collectively within the squad. That’s the key thing and I think that’s what you’ll see this weekend, an individual and collective desire – so we can sit down and look at ourselves in the mirror on Saturday night,”

That’s more pure Reddan. He is a scrapper. He has had to be to fight for every nine jersey he has ever worn at Wasps, in Munster and now going head-to-head with Boss in Leinster. Then there is Stringer, similarly gifted with a terrier mentality. That constant internecine fighting has made Reddan obdurate and rugby wise and has given him a work ethic that is always unquestionable.

But he’ll argue that cracking heads and spilling sweat on the training ground until Saturday comes won’t guarantee performance just effort.

“I’ve played against them (All Blacks) twice now and I think when they have the ball it’s a bit different, they play at a very high tempo and they attack in may different directions. It’s about being very adaptable in that situation and being able to read what they are doing,” he says.

“Les (Kiss, Ireland defence coach) would have gone through their patterns and you watch them play and go through the options they can play with each pattern. You can practise it but, at the end of the day, these are massive occasions, the adrenaline is flying. You don’t need to get yourself up for it, so composure and decision-making is key.”

That’s where we leave him, calmly simmering already. He’s rightly buried that pass, rightly leaves Aviva believing in the renewal of another day.