From dependable to deadly: a full-back reborn

YOU never expect to come away disappointed from an interview with the unfailingly friendly Girvan Dempsey, but it happened.

Years waiting to pin a nickname on someone, lately I thought I had it. Girvan Dempsey, Girv the Swerve; over the last couple of seasons, those of us who knew there was so much more to the Irish full-back than he was showing — safety first, safety last, safety in between, utterly predictable – were vindicated, as Girvan finally began to open up, began to trust his predatory instincts. He was always a superb athlete, tall, rangy, fast, and in his younger days with Terenure had been a serious attacking back; for years, however, in the green 15 shirt, he wasn’t showing it, was content just to stay home and mind the house.

The last couple of years, however, this year especially, the real Girvan Dempsey has emerged, joining the line, looking, probing, jinking, stepping – swerving. Girv the Swerve.

This week, I proudly offered him his new nickname. Only to be told — too late.

“It’s been going around, the Leinster fans have embraced that nickname for a while now, they’ve put together a few t-shirts with Girv the Swerve on them.” Ah well — does he like it, at least? “I do, yeah,” he says, which is kind of surprising, really, given that Girvan is such an unassuming kind of guy. “It’s nice to be recognised like that.”

One of the principal reasons he’s still being recognised at all is because Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan has resisted all the pressure to call in the more flamboyant and hugely talented Geordan Murphy, from Leicester. In Girvan — even the old Girvan — steady Eddie saw something of a kindred spirit.

“Full-back is like a goalkeeper, it’s great if they’re exciting but if they’re too exciting it can be a worry. Girvan is a very solid, consistent player, and that’s what the other 14 players want, someone solid, that when the ball goes over their heads, he’s going to deal with it more often than not; he makes mistakes, like everyone else, but he rarely has a poor game.

“Guys are happy that he’s back there, and I get that sense from the team. As a full-back he ticks all the boxes; with or without the football he’s a very consistent player. He’s a very good tackler, and his positional sense is magnificent. One of the telling things about him — and I hope I’m not putting the Indian sign on him here — is that you rarely see him let a ball bounce, he always tends to be where it lands, and that’s because he reads the game very well. A telling thing for me about Girvan, he spends as much time preparing for a test game — down to the analysis of the opposition — whether he’s on the bench or starting. That’s a measure of his professionalism. He’s also a nice fella, which helps.”

All that hard work has certainly helped Dempsey recover his old attacking instincts, but first there was a change of mindset, a change inspired by Leinster coach Michael Cheika and his free-wheeling assistant David Knox.

“I went through a phase where I was more concerned about not making mistakes, being solid, but if you don’t take chances, if you don’t take risks, you’re not going to know…” Girvan pauses. “You’re not going to be able to assess how good you can potentially be, what you can get out of yourself.

Their influence has been fundamental, as has Eddie’s, he had a word with me on different aspects of my game. But David Knox especially — I remember when he first came in he said one of the biggest attacking weapons in modern rugby is from a counter-attack after the opposition has exhausted its options, kicked the ball away. If you can organise and be a threat from your back-three play, that’s the way the game is evolving, broken rugby from the back.”

It helps, of course, that his back-three colleagues with Leinster are also alongside him in green. “It certainly makes things a lot easier being able to train and play week in, week out with Denis (Hickie) and Shaggy (Horgan) on either side of me. We’re very different, physically, but we feed off each other very well, and that makes my job a lot easier. If I’m caught up the field, Denis or Shaggy will work back, cover for me; we interchange very easily.”

TYPICAL of Girvan’s new mindset was his display against England. Not just his try, but his general play; all the old consistency was there, but it was his new intent with ball in hand, his line-break with the first run-back, that caught the eye. What about that try though? One of the most difficult of his career, slaloming through the whole English pack, his new trademark swerve around the last two defenders? Okay, slight exaggeration... “A stroll in and fall over the line,” he laughs. “Our pack set the foundation with their groundwork up the left side of the field, that paid huge dividends.

“We were able to move the ball out, it went a bit astray but Gordon (D’Arcy) kept his head, flipped a lovely ball out the backdoor to Brian, who threw a long, looping pass to me. I remember thinking — as the ball was coming through the air, the rain starting to come down – you’d better not drop this, because Shaggy was on my outside.”

But it’s not that easy; try-line looming, over 80,000 baying supporters — a lot of players have been known to drop the ball in that situation. “Can happen, if you don’t do your basics, keep your eye on the ball.”

That will never happen with Girvan Dempsey, Girv the Swerve; happened to me, though. Ah well, there are still opportunities. Let’s see now, who’s left – Paul ‘The Maul’ O’Connell, Marcus ‘The Ardnacrusha Crusher’ Horan, Guy ‘The Man’ Easterby. Wait a second — Denis Hickey, Denis The Menace! Genius. Now, when is the next Irish media day?