Sitting pretty

Jamie Heaslip just couldn’t resist.

When the Ireland captain sat down beside Paddy Jackson at yesterday’s first press briefing he made a play of grabbing the young Ulsterman’s hand, like a protective father chaperoning his first-born to his first day in school.

And the out-half barely had time to soak in the dozen or more expectant faces staring in his direction before Heaslip added that this was simply the first of three rooms full of media he would have to negotiate.

Welcome to the big time, kid!

The magnitude of his elevation is obviously at a level he has never experienced before but the manner of it must be old hat for Jackson who was a surprise choice for a league game against Scarlets two years ago and Brian McLaughlin repeated that trick for Ulster’s Heineken Cup run-in late last season.

That, ultimately, didn’t end well.

The then 20-year floundered at Twickenham — as did the rest of his provincial team-mates, it must be said. That will ensure that all eyes are on him in Edinburgh this Sunday even if the player himself insists he is all the better for an experience which few would care for.

“I just forgot about it for a while, went on holidays,” he explained yesterday at Carton House.

“Then I had my first full pre-season with Ulster really, so I was busy getting used to the new coach and the new calls. I learned a lot from the Heineken Cup final. It was a great experience.

“Obviously things didn’t go very well but I did learn from it. It was only my second start in the Heineken Cup so once I got a few more games, got to know the players a bit better, everything has been fine. You learn more from your mistakes rather than after having an absolute blinder.”

He has wanted this forever and is adamant he is ready but his boyish looks betray a youthfulness that is encapsulated in a CV which boasts just 32 appearances at provincial level which, in modern terms, amounts to little more than a season in the deep waters of professional, first-team rugby.

His acceleration through the ranks has been little short of astonishing. Like Jonathan Sexton, he looked up to Ronan O’Gara as a teenager so it must have been somewhat surreal when the Munster out-half was the first to approach him after the team announcement to wish him luck.

That said, a year has gone by since he first reported for duty at Carton House but his one and only appearance in a green shirt at senior level remains the Wolfhounds’ rout of Fiji in Limerick last November which he believes will be of use as he contemplates his full international debut this weekend.

“I don’t think I’ll be as nervous. I had butterflies when my name was called out [this week] and then I kind of calmed down a bit and it was just real excitement from there.

“I just think that because I hadn’t played that many games up to the Heineken final last year...that was probably the main thing I was nervous about [for Fiji].

“The guys I was playing with I hadn’t played with too much and I wasn’t that familiar with the calls. I have been here in camp a year now and I know the calls very well and I trust the guys around me and hopefully they trust me too.”

Jackson admitted to sitting up a bit more in his seat when Jonathan Sexton crumpled to the Aviva Stadium turf during the England match whilst clutching his hamstring and it wouldn’t be unfair to say that thousands more Irishmen will be doing likewise when the new man lines up his first kick on goal.

Ruan Pienaar kicks the two and three-pointers for Ulster more often than not and did so again last Friday evening despite the fact that the province rolled over Zebre at Ravenhill and Jackson was in line to feature against the Scots at Edinburgh nine days later.

“It didn’t really come into my head,” said the Methody graduate.

“I hadn’t played for about three weeks so I didn’t really want to have it on my shoulders that I hadn’t kicked in a while with my ankle.

“Obviously Ruan is a world-class kicker there too so I wasn’t going to be selfish. I just wanted to get back playing. I’ve been kicking the last few weeks in training so it’s no big issue really.”