Strauss can’t wait for real thing after taste of Irish life

Richardt Strauss tried hisbest to stay on message and turn the attention to Aironi yesterday but even the tight-lipped South African couldn’t prevent the conversation from zeroing in on his imminent eligibility for Ireland.

The former Springbok U19 hooker has already been pictured wearing a green tracksuit at Carton House in recent weeks and will be officially qualified to represent this country after the Six Nations.

Declan Kidney has already talked up the queue for the number two jersey, with Rory Best holding sway over Sean Cronin, Damien Varley and Mike Sherry, but Strauss is a live possibility for the summer’s tour of New Zealand.

He enjoyed his stint training with the national side in Kildare and admitted yesterday that he is ready to answer the call if and when it comes but, whatever happens now, the move to Ireland in 2009 has already been a success.

“I have said before that at that stage of my career I felt I was stagnating,” said the former Cheetah. “Where I was, I didn’t see myself getting any game time and I didn’t leave there on the best of terms. The opportunity to play international rugby was a big, big factor. I spoke to Ollie Le Roux and CJ van der Linde and after that was excited about what was going on here. Leinster being as successful as they were was a big factor in me coming.

“The lads here have made me feel comfortable from the first day. It is hard to get used to the way the Irish people do things, their habits and that sort of thing. It is much different to how it is in South Africa ... [but] I feel at home.”

For now, it is back to the day job, however, and that means a date at the Stadio Zaffanella against Aironi on Friday evening for a tie which may yet see the long-awaited return of Luke Fitzgerald from a neck injury sustained on St Stephen’s Day. The Irish back is expected to take his first contact session tomorrow, while Kiwi out-half Mat Berquist is also nearing the end of a rehabilitation period that began five months ago after he fractured a patella in only his second appearance. Meanwhile, Leinster have announced that 46,000 tickets have already been sold for the Heineken Cup quarter-final against the Cardiff Blues in the Aviva Stadium on Easter Saturday, April 7.