Boss set to fight for place
Boss faces huge competition from Eoin Reddan, Tomás O’Leary, Peter Stringer and young Conor Murray, but he is not daunted. He has been through the mill before and understands Ireland are blessed with quality players in his position.
But he feels he has the credentials to make it following his move from Ulster last season.
“I’ve just been working hard during the last couple of seasons, but Leinster was a [particularly] good move for me and I’m happy enough to be in the extended squad for the moment,” he said.
“If I get some game time I’ll be pretty excited; all I can do is give a good account of myself and that’s my only focus at the moment.”
Although Boss has had only four starts for Ireland in 13 Tests, he will always be remembered for his spectacular late try against England at Croke Park in 2007 as Ireland put the old enemy to the sword. But if his memory of that is fond, he would prefer to have more up-to-date reflections on his international career.
When he says he would play any position to get more Irish caps, he means it and although he was out of the loop over the last couple of seasons, he says he never gave up hope on Ireland.
“I got a couple of minutes last year with Samoa and hopefully I can get back in amongst it, get a chance in these warm-up matches, the summer series.
“If I do get an opportunity, that’s all that you can ask for. My form has been good, I played well for Leinster but at the same time you can always do more.”
Having been involved in the disappointing 2007 campaign, Boss would love to help banish those unhappy memories for Ireland but, he suggests, everyone must put that behind them and focus only on this year. “Since then, I’ve only been in one squad and played just three minutes for Ireland. I’ll be looking forward and if they [coaches] have the faith to give me 10 minutes, a half or a full game, then I’ve got to make the most of it,” he said.
Boss will have a better idea today of where he stands in the pecking order when Kidney names his team to play Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. But he recognises he might have to take his place in the queue.
“I’m sure,” he said, “they’re not going to give out opportunities willy-nilly, there are five scrum halves for these four matches, so it will be interesting to see what the thinking is; everyone is just taking guesses at the moment.
“It is most competitive at scrum half right now; that’s unfortunate [for some] but the depth is there and it just makes you compete harder. You’ve always got one eye on the other guy to see what he is doing, always trying to better each other. It’s a funny sort of club.”
As one who has generally had to settle for second best in Leinster’s Heineken Cup push, he still believes his form and overall game has improved immeasurably this last year.
“Definitely I’ve improved since I’ve come down [to Leinster], and it’s not just through the competition, it’s due to the set-up the whole way through plus the squad they’ve got assembled there. I’d like to think it’s probably spin-offs for someone like Reddser [Reddan] as well; it brings in such competitiveness in a different environment.”
Although he spends time trying to find ways to improve his own game, individualism, Boss has learned over the years, is less and less acceptable in the modern game of rugby.
“Maybe in days gone by you would try to do too much but I know enough now that the team suffers if you try too much on your own.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
