D’Arcy will be ‘marked man’

Barry Coughlan

D’Arcy has been restricted by injury to a solitary international appearance since the 2004 Six Nations but many worry that the pressure is on to prove his blistering form was not just a one-off. His centre partner warned: “It’s going to be a new challenge for Gordon this time. The players who have completed a full Six Nations season and have done well are going to be watched,” he said.

“I don’t buy into this second season syndrome. I know Darce too well, he wants it too much after missing out on part of the summer tour and on all of the autumn internationals. He is ready to go. Maybe we shouldn’t expect the miracles of last year so much but what you see is what you’ll get from him.

“Expect to see him always doing the basics well, expect a lot of breaks, exciting runs forward and amazing defence. I don’t think there is going to be much change to his game.

O’Driscoll, no stranger to unrealistic expectation, said: “What’s important is the expectation you put on yourself, not what the general public think or expect of you. There will be a lot of effort to close his space down but he is such a talented player that he will be capable of getting through defences. He’s actually very difficult to mark.”

D’Arcy will win his 11th cap in Rome on Sunday, and is happy to

motor along quietly rather than taking centre stage. Even though he is still shy of 25, he has been around long enough and suffered enough disappointments to deal with the slings and arrows of misfortune. Last season, he formed the most potent midfield partnership in the championship. This week, with endorsements ringing in his ears, he recalled the time when commentators feared he would never realise his potential.

Despite winning a first Irish cap in 1999, D’Arcy’s star faded for a while as he was ushered from pillar to post, from full back, to wing, to centre. In a sense, his school’s successes appeared to be haunting him.

In Clongowes, he played hooker up to 16, then out half, then full back.

“In one sense, it’s great to have experience of playing in different positions but I suppose you can get branded as being a jack of all trades and master of none.”

There were stories that D’Arcy hadn’t quite bought into the whole professional deal, that he wasn’t always focused, was too laid back, didn’t treat the whole job spec seriously.

“Quite honestly, I’m just glad to be back in the side”, he said, referring to missing out through injury, the autumn internationals against South Africa, USA and Argentina.

Some might have been happy with a rest but not D’Arcy. “I was a bit brassed off missing out on those games, having spent so long breaking into the side in the first place. It would have been nice to have played on a winning game against South Africa. That would have been special.”

Now, he wants a special Six Nations. Ireland have been hyped to the point where the fans believe a Grand Slam is not just a possibility but probability.

“There’s no question how far this Irish team can go. I think the talent is there, the will is there and physically we’re capable of taking on any other team in the world. We’ve got to believe that, but we also have to be sensible about it.

“We have tried to bring our game to another level and we have succeeded up to now. We won the Triple Crown last year but the aim then was the Championship and the Grand Slam. It still remains the goal.”