World-class Wallace making up for lost time
Wallace has been an integral part of the teams that have reached the knock-out stages, but has also suffered the bitter disappointment of two final defeats and saw last year’s campaign completely wiped out by a serious shoulder injury.
“The lowest point was losing that first final to Northampton,” he said. “I’ve never wanted to see a video of that game. I’ve forgotten a lot about it even though I scored the only try. Thankfully, I went away on tour to the States immediately afterwards and got my first cap and that helped to ease the pain a little.
“Not being used to that level of intensity, maybe we were slightly sidetracked,” he says. “The meeting we had the night before was one of the most emotional we’ve ever had and maybe that was a problem.
“Then there’s the 2002 final in Cardiff. We went out and gave it all we had. From a team point of view it was obviously very sad, especially with Claw and Gaillimh finishing up. I suppose getting to the final is a big achievement but then, nobody remembers who comes second.”
Year in, year out, Munster confound everybody by the manner in which they bounce back from heartbreaking defeats. It’s not a source of wonderment, however, to players like Wallace. “On the day it’s a few minor things that swing the match one way or the other. We’re certainly confident in our ability to do it this time.
“We’ve obviously lost the likes of Gaillimh and Claw and John Langford, but we’ve acquired the talents of Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan and other young guys who have come through.”
In spite of a towering display in the demolition of Gloucester at Thomond Park and his bright prospects of returning to the international fold, Wallace is by no means assured of his place with either Munster or Ireland due to the huge amount of back-row talent available to both management teams.
“Ever since I’ve been involved, it’s been competitive and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Stephen [Keogh] is coming through and Quinny [Alan Quinlan] and Denis Leamy are injured. The more pressure there is, the better everybody plays. The competition does give you that little extra edge and you definitely will push yourself a little harder.”
It was after the Lions tour of Australia, when he travelled out as a replacement for Lawrence Dallaglio and scored a try on his first appearance, that injury really caught up with David Wallace. A dodgy shoulder, he admits, subsequently caused “a downward spiral performance-wise and confidence-wise.”
He had an operation the following summer and that meant missing the whole of last season. Complications set in - “there was a cyst in there the size of a grape” - but so fed up was he with the situation that the discovery of the problem actually came as good news.
“We got rid of the cyst and I played a few seconds games with Garryowen and a few trial games coming up to the summer tour,” he says. “I only played 25 minutes out there and didn’t have full confidence in the shoulder, but I needed to get out and train in a rugby environment. I had very little high-class rugby under my belt coming into a World Cup season. I was up against it at that stage.”
When you ask David if he is now back to his best, he laughs quietly, a little self consciously perhaps, before agreeing that he has been happy with his attack in some games and defence in others without yet putting it all together.
He is confident he has the ability to do so starting against Bourgoin today. Eddie O’Sullivan has included Wally in his Six Nations 34 and is unlikely to overlook him again.
“It would be great to get back,” Wallace accepts. “There’s a lot of guys going for the same positions. You’ve just got to play every game as well as you can. That’s all you can do.”
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