‘I won’t get stung on a one-on-one ever again’

GORDON D’ARCY has vowed he won’t be beaten in a one-on-one defensive scenario for the remainder of his rugby career, as he consigns the painful memories of the French defeat to the past.

D’Arcy was blasted away by Aurelien Rougerie when Ireland last lined out at the Aviva Stadium, and yesterday he declared there will be no repeat when he goes head to head with England’s midfield giant Matt Banahan in this evening’s Grand Slam decider.

He admitted: “I got stung with Rougerie a few weeks back. I’ll play rugby for I don’t know how many years and I won’t get stung on a one-on-one like that ever again, no matter how big or small the guy is.”

He puts that promise to test today against the Bath speedster Banahan who stands at 6’ 7’’ and weighs over 17 stone.

A difficult ask? “It’s gas, you do these interviews and questions start coming around, the same ones, everybody is that size in world rugby except me by the looks of things. (Yannick) Jauzion is up there, Mike Tindall is a big guy as well.

“Matt’s primarily a winger, he’s come in and done quite well. I’ll have done my due diligence on Matt, he has his traits that I’ll try to pick up on and be one step ahead of. But you have to rely on the timing of your defence, that you’re a good tackler and you’re going to have to man up and make the hits that count.”

Brian O’Driscoll remains a constant by D’Arcy’s side in the centre, and it is a partnership which now verges on the telepathic. The Wexford man agreed: “One week you might put more emphasis on the fact we read each other very well, he might come in, I go out (of the line) or vice versa. Then another week, we might just have to have our one up and make the hits. This week will be a nice combination of both, I think.”

But he expects a busy 80 minutes as Ireland’s Six Nations campaign comes to an end.

He admitted: “England have good back-line runners. (Chris) Ashton, (Ben) Foden and (Mark) Cueto who are a handful in themselves, and they have two big bruisers in the centre, so we’re going to have to marry both of our strengths in terms of being partners and fully use our ability to read the body language of each other. Shontayne Hape is holding down a key position but we’ve been looking at the whole line and their strikes.

“He (Hape) does, though, have a good step off both feet, he’s quite comfortable on the ball and again he’s quite sizeable. He brings that directness but he’s playing a little like a second five-eighth with Toby Flood. So he’s a string-puller but he comes from that League background where he’s obviously not afraid of carrying the ball. You can see the crossover with Ashton as well, they work well together.”

But the Irish midfield isn’t without its talents either. D’Arcy lifted the lid on the secrets to their success. He said: “We rely a bit on cuteness on the field, on spotting those little things that a new centre partnership wouldn’t necessarily see. It’s very hard to say exactly what because the game evolves differently depending on what time it is, and what the score is but Brian and I will be looking to exploit something.”

The result hinges on more than just the midfield battle though and D’Arcy recognised that Ireland must produce their best performance of the season to deny England their afternoon of Grand Slam glory.

He sees the breakdown as crucial, believing Ireland’s work there has progressed hugely since the opening rounds of the competition.

“We got the balance reasonably right against Wales. We did get turnovers when fighting for the ball. It’s our strength and we’re aware of that but we also need to be aware of the referees. They’re the guys bossing the breakdown. I could be there and think I’m in a good place, but if the referee calls hands away, I have to get out of there.

“You’ve got to get that balance between conceding penalties and playing the rugby. We saw it against France when we scored the tries and played all the rugby but lost the game.

“It’s a marriage of contesting and not conceding penalties. If we get the ball great, if we don’t, well at least slow it down and ramp up our line speed and keep doing that. It’s building all that aggressiveness in the tackle and then poaching. But when it’s not on. It’s about being smart, pulling away and not conceding penalties.”