Wallace waiting for chance on big stage

PADDY Wallace is a chirpy, likeable young man who clearly enjoys himself off the field as well as on it. In his early days at Trinity College, he sported a peroxide blond hair style that certainly captured the attention and he still retains a youthful exuberance even though he has now passed his 28th birthday.

First called into the senior Irish squad in 2002, Wallace had to wait until 2006 for the first of his five caps against the Pacific Islands when he ended with 26 points.

Prior to that, he had also energised his own Ravenhill crowd by kicking 20 points for the Ireland A side against their New Zealand counterparts. And before that again, he was a key member of the Irish team that captured the FIRAWorld/Youth U-19 championship in France in 1998 along with Brian O’Driscoll and Donncha O’Callaghan.