D’Arcy hoping to stay in spotlight
In his representative career, D’Arcy has been utilised at full back, wing and centre, and believe it or not, once played as a hooker.
Not happy as a hooker, he quickly points out: “I tried the position at school when I was about 15 but my coach wasn’t impressed. I was all over the place, looking for a bit of action and was finally told if I wanted to play like a back, I should go out there.”
Despite relative success for Leinster, he has not quite made it in a national sense.
A few years back when he was a rookie with Leinster, D’Arcy was lambasted when Christophe Dominici left him for dead on the way to a memorable try in a Heineken Cup fixture.
Having also taken stick from then Leinster coach Matt Williams (now the Scottish boss) and branded the worst “wannabe” in the business, D’Arcy has finally come of age.
The arrival of Gary Ella to Leinster and the support from the back-room boys, has given him a new sense of purpose. The dilution of the Leinster back line with injuries to Denis
Hickie and, of course, Brian O’Driscoll, also forced the issue.
Suddenly, D’Arcy stepped into the spotlight.
He explains: “Maybe I was holding back waiting for others to take responsibility for what happened on the pitch. Gary gave me the responsibility to take things further, encouraged me to take risks and, happily, a lot of those worked well.
“A lot of the time over the last couple of years I tried things but made mistakes. Those mistakes were, at times, glaring and made me look foolish.
“With Brian and Denis out of the team, myself, Shane (Horgan) and Girvan (Dempsey) stepped in as the more senior players in the back division. More was expected of us going forward, and in my case, more was expected in defence.
“I have worked hard on that part of my game, particularly this week since I learned I would be playing in the centre against France.”
D’Arcy has little enough experience in the middle of the field at this level but has, nonetheless, impressed.
Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan admits he is taking a risk but lauded D’Arcy for what he achieved with Leinster this season: “He is a class act, a potential game-breaker and I look forward to seeing how he gets on against France.”
Leinster’s Heineken Cup demise was hardly encouraging but D’Arcy has a new focus. I’m still looking forward to the remainder of the Celtic League when I’m needed. I still think Leinster have a chance of pushing for honours.
“For the moment it’s all about Ireland. I’m realistic enough to know that if Brian proves his fitness, there might not be a role for me.
“My aim is to do enough to help Ireland to a victory in Paris. Even though I wasn’t involved in that last World Cup game, I am involved enough to know it hurt the players, guys who are my friends. Anything I can do to redress the balance will, I’m sure, be much appreciated. I just want to do my best, test myself against a strong French midfield and help Ireland to produce what might be termed a shock victory.
“One thing is sure, we’re not going out there to lose.”
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