Wallace overdue rub of the green

DAVID WALLACE desperately wants the rub of the green on St Patrick’s weekend at Twickenham.

The famous old London ground has not been a happy hunting ground for the Irish flanker. He scored the only try of the 2000 Heineken Cup final at the Rugby Road venue but Munster lost to Northampton by a single point. Two years later, he was part of an Irish team that capitulated to a stunning first-half performance from England.

Despite a Lions call-up in 2001 and a try to help Ireland beat Scotland in the 2004 Triple Crown decider, the last six years have been tough as

Wallace has had to wait patiently for consistent international recognition.

But this spring was the turning point for the 29-year-old, whose four-match Six Nations run is the longest he has enjoyed in an Irish jersey since 2002.

He admits to being chuffed: “First of all, it was nice to get back in there, but it’s a lot more satisfying to stay there. It’s important to be able to have a run at it, to be able to work on my game within the structure of the team. In the last few seasons it has been very much up and down, in and out, and I didn’t really get a chance to establish myself.”

He is equally pleased for back row partners Denis Leamy and Simon Easterby.

“I suppose one could categorise us as being a big, ball-carrying trio, but I think each of us has different attributes.

“I played on a number of occasions with Denis for Munster and a couple of times with Simon at U21 level. I think we complement one another, and we have all worked very hard to add different dimensions to our games.

“Simon is an excellent lineout jumper but is capable of putting in the hard yards, and Denis has grown in stature. The experience of having played in all three positions is now beginning to stand to him.

“I have tried to vary my game a bit, and I have concentrated a lot on scrapping for possession on the deck, which might have been perceived as a weakness in the past.”

For that, he has earned the praise of coach Eddie O’Sullivan, who highlighted turnovers by Italy, Wales and Scotland that were forced by Wallace.

Yet, individual praise will be meaningless unless Ireland win the Triple Crown.

Wallace concedes Ireland need a dramatic improvement over the display against Scotland for that to happen.

“The conditions against Scotland were appalling, but we can’t hide totally behind that. The fact is that we dominated the game to such an extent that we should have been way ahead long before the end.

“Those last ten minutes, even if we were dominating and doing most of the attacking, were quite traumatic. The fear that they might get a breakaway score was always there, and they did launch one attack from deep inside their half that forced us to scramble back in defence. If we lost that game it would have been our own fault, and a major embarrassment,” he said.

But as Ireland prepare for a possible backlash from an undoubtedly red-faced England, Wallace questions the visitors’ installation as favourites.

“If the public over there make us favourites, that’s up to them. We certainly don’t believe we have the right to turn up in Twickenham and win. It’s a ridiculous assumption. So England were well and truly beaten by France in Paris, but the French can beat the best sides, even if the best sides play well. I don’t think anyone in the Irish camp took too much notice of the result.

“At Twickenham, England will be a different proposition. In front of their own fans, they will want to prove a point and they have made a whole number of changes which puts a different perspective on this particular match.

“Certainly, we shot ourselves in the foot in Paris and all those first-half errors overshadowed the good rugby we played in the second half,” admitted Wallace.

“Against the very good sides, mistakes at this level will be severely punished, and no matter what people are saying, England are a pretty good side.”

Not that he is completing downplaying Irish chances.

“We believe we know what we are capable of. We have a strong, solid pack and some brilliant backs. As a team this season, we haven’t quite achieved what we wanted to in terms of performance. But the important thing is that we’re here, it’s the last day of the championship, and we’re in line to win the Triple Crown and a possible championship title,” he said.

“We set ourselves goals at the start of the campaign and we’re still on course. Now I think it’s just going to take one massive display of potential. We all believe we’re capable of that.”