Lions star making the Wright impression

IT was just over a year ago and Stan Wright, a beefy Pacific Islander, was at home in the Cook Islands, working construction.

Then, out of the blue, he got a phone call from his agent

“Do you want to play rugby in Ireland?,” asked the voice at the other end of the line.

“It depends — who’s it for?” wondered Wright.

“Leinster,” came the reply “Who’s Leinster?” Wright asked.

“I didn’t know much,” he explains now, “I didn’t really follow rugby on this side (of the world). I don’t really like watching rugby — I play it, but I don’t like to watch.”

“They play Heineken Cup,” the voice told him.

“Oh, Heineken Cup — yeah, I’m keen.”

“Okay, I’ll ring you back in two hours.”

Two hours later, “That’s okay, but you’ve got to be there by next Sunday.”

“Oh shite!”

First impressions on meeting the Leinster squad, on seeing the training facilities?

“Ah, it was way better than what I was used to. I had been playing with Northland, in New Zealand. That was much smaller than this. I was walking around, thinking ‘I’ve hit the big one!’”

And that’s how it happened that a Cook Islander ended up playing on grey days in Dublin for the boys in blue. On December 9, 2006, against Agen in the Heineken Cup in Lansdowne Road, he made his debut in a 26-10 win for the home side. For the 6’1” near-20 stone giant from Rarotonga, however, that was about the only positive from that night. In report after report, he was panned. In the Leinster pack, went the wisdom, if you want to know what’s wrong, just look at Wright.

A year on, and things have changed. The Leinster pack is making a name for itself, a reputation enhanced two weeks ago with a dogged Magners League win over Munster in Cork, further reinforced last week beating Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup, Wright pivotal in both games.

Through all his tribulations, Stan kept smiling — it’s his default mode. And there was good reason for his stuttering start.

“Last year it took me a while to get the calls but this year I’m there right from the start. I understand better the way Leinster play, I know all the players, I know where to be, what to do. Ollie (Le Roux, South African prop brought in this year) has made a difference but the whole eight is gelling better. We’re playing better as a unit and everything is clicking into place.”

On Saturday against Edinburgh in Murrayfield, it has to click again, but Stan is ready. “It’s better (when you play the same team on consecutive weekends), ! I’m up against the same player, I know all his tricks, I know his strong points.”

And of course, he knows his weak points. So, how does he rate Allen Jacobsen?

“He’s quite a strong boy, yeah, a lot of tricks, just like me. His binding, when to come in, when to stay out — he kept stopping me from binding. He did that to me first, when he knew he was in a bit of trouble, then he got me in a bit of trouble.”

But, how did it end up? “I think our scrum was the better scrum in the end.”

The Leinster squad sees two familiar faces return. Full-back Girvan Dempsey is back from injury and a surprise addition is scrum-half Guy Easterby.

Squad: Forwards (14): J Gomez, C Healy, O le Roux, B Blaney, B Jackman, S Knoop, S Wright, L Cullen, C Jowitt, M O’Kelly, K Gleeson, S Jennings, S Keogh, J Heaslip.

Backs (13): C Keane, C Willis, G Easterby, F Contepomi, J Sexton, C Warner, G D’Arcy, B O’Driscoll, G Brown, L Fitzgerald, S Horgan, R Kearney, G Dempsey.