Wallace gets sad, bad day out of system

AS a professional rugby player, David Wallace knows all about heartbreak.

He failed to make the 1999 World Cup squad, has seen two Heineken Cup medals snatched from his grasp and, more recently, has been plagued with a shoulder injury which may have ultimately prevented him being selected for the forthcoming World Cup.

Wallace was hugely relieved to be chosen to tour with Ireland to Australia, Tonga and Samoa this summer as it was his chance to put the bad part of the past behind him and throw down the gauntlet to Ireland’s other back row challengers for a place in the 30-man World Cup squad.

By the end of the tour he had made progress. By the time the autumn warm-up internationals were over, there was good reason to be confident of his being selected, particularly after a fine try-scoring performance against Scotland. But Wallace was never actually that confident and decided it wise to leave his mobile telephone switched on through the early hours of Sunday, September 7.

That was the day when Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan named his World Cup squad. The coach had pledged to all the players that he, and he alone, would be the bearer of bad news. True to that promise, Wallace’s phone rang shortly before 10am. Before then, in the uneasy hours of darkness, he had done his best to mentally prepare for such a call. But when it came he was still gutted.

“You think you’re prepared for disappointment, but you’re not really. You just wish that the call was never made, pretend it didn’t happen.”

Now, almost two weeks later, Wallace is more philosophical about the situation, recognising that, notwithstanding the public surprise at his omission, there were players higher than him in the pecking order.

“Realistically, I suppose I was always coming from behind with my challenge. I was coming back from a long injury and there were always players ahead of me. It was up to me to prove myself, and while I played a few games obviously that was not quite enough. Even though I felt happy with my performances against Wales and Scotland recently, I always had the sneaking suspicion that I was slightly behind the challenging pack.”

Whilst the public screamed their support for Wallace on the basis of that sensational try against Scotland and the belief that the hard ground in Australia would suit his style of play more than most, the flanker points out: “A score normally only takes up about 30 seconds of a game. There is a lot more to it than that and so many other things have to be considered.

“I would never assume that scoring a try gives players the right to selection on any squad. The ability to score is more important, and work-rate, support play, defensive capability and the like is far more important. Selectors don’t pick guys because they score a try the day before a World Cup squad is announced.”

In the modern era, every player dreams of representing their country in the World Cup. It is, despite all the hype associated with the Six Nations and the Tri-Nations, the European Cup and even Lions tours, the ultimate.

“Everyone wants to play in the World Cup. Everyone playing at this level has been planning for this tournament for over two years. Individuals and teams themselves have geared up for this, focused the preparation on it, so of course it is a major disappointment to lose out.”

WITH A few weeks still to go, Wallace hasn’t yet given up on the idea that he might still play a part.

He is on the stand-by list and, most likely, O’Sullivan’s first choice replacement should any one of the six chosen back row men fall victim to injury. “Without wishing anything, injuries do happen, although I was on the stand-by list for the last World Cup and was never called up so I’m not presuming anything.

“Right now, all I can do is get on with my career and play as well as I can for Munster. The good thing is that there are plenty of high profile games in the Celtic League over the coming weeks. That is beneficial from a couple of different points of view. Being with the Munster lads and training on a daily basis has already helped keep my mind off not being selected. We will have some big games and they would help me be prepared if by any chance I did get called up.”

Wallace, remember, was called in as a replacement to the British and Irish Lions squad towards the end of the 2001 tour to Australia, but the circumstances were different then.

“I was coming into the squad during the off-season at home and really there was no question of being able to challenge seriously for a place when I actually got out there. Having games for Munster would be an ideal preparation for a World Cup. One way or another, these matches should help me in the long term. Coming back from injury, you need as many games as you can get to build up confidence.”

As far as his shoulder injury is concerned, that confidence is already high. “I’ve really forgotten all about my shoulder now. It’s not an issue and it’s a good thing when you can focus on other niggling injuries, like a strain here and a strain there.”

After one sad, bad day, life has moved on for Wallace already. “OK, you still hope that a call might eventually come, but the important thing now is to throw all my energy into helping Munster.

“This is a professional game. I can’t look back to yesterday, and I’ll look forward for my own peace of mind and the benefit of all concerned in Munster.”