Dempsey happy to be in demand

GIRVAN DEMPSEY is aware of the irony.

A regular on the Ireland team since the turn of the century, some people spent most of that time calling for him to be dropped. Since Eddie O’Sullivan did just that last year, the clamour to bring him back has been just as loud. Go figure.

His inability to transfer his stellar form with Leinster to the international arena is one of the reasons Dempsey’s detractors are now fluttering their eyelids in his direction, but the Terenure man’s form is the chief reason for his soaring stock.

Dubbed ‘Girv the Swerve’, the full-back has been playing the best rugby of his career and is an equal partner in Leinster’s star-studded backline since Michael Cheika and David Knox brought the Randwick brand of rugby to D4.

How cruel then that his international opportunities last season were limited to just two appearances as a replacement against England and New Zealand.

“It certainly is an irony,” the 30-year old admits. “When I was playing people were trying to get me off the team as quickly as possible.”

So, what then does he put his excellent form down to? “It’s just down to hard work and the different style of rugby our coaches at Leinster have shown us. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and got a lot of confidence from that.

“I think I’ve always played good rugby but I have been doing one or two different things under the new coaches. It’s not a miracle.”

If he has been undervalued during his eight-year international career, his value at Leinster has always been appreciated.

Last year, he won his 100th cap with the province and he will notch up his 50th Heineken Cup appearance against Gloucester in Lansdowne Road tomorrow.

He admits that he never imagined he would reach the half-ton mark. “There have been a lot of memorable games but we haven’t shown what we’re capable of yet.”

Last season could have been the pinnacle but it was ultimately a case of so near and yet so far with Ulster beating them to the post in the Magners League and Munster bursting their Heineken Cup bubble.

Now the party line emanating from Donnybrook is that the province has moved up a few rungs of the ladder since those disappointments.

“There’s a great understanding of what the coaching staff want us to do,” Dempsey explains. “It shows in what we’re doing in training and bringing it forward to the games.

Today’s game against an exciting Gloucester side should tell them exactly where they stand in the greater scheme of things.”