Jared Payne up for a battle with pal Robbie Henshaw
Kiwi-born Payne was more or less the silent partner as Henshaw took most of the plaudits as Ireland retained the Six Nations Championship title. But it was widely acknowledged that it was the Kiwi-born Payneâs experience and nous that helped the young zealot grow in stature.
Now Payne will be out to âprotectâ himself against the big giant centre from out west.
âI spent a lot of time with him and I have been texting him this week,â said Payne, who scored his first try in Ireland colours in the victory over Scotland.
âIt will be interesting to play against him, we know a bit about each otherâs game and it will be interesting to see how that translates when we play against each other.
âIt will be good and hopefully weâll have a few laughs out there. Hopefully he wonât beat me up too much,â smiled Payne, who is glad to get back to normal league duties with Ulster.
âItâs good to be back and be back in the system. But it was good to win the competition and it was a pretty unreal ride to win the Six Nations. Itâs slowly sinking in.
âThe medal is tucked away in a drawer. But you canât look back at that now as I have pretty important things to do here.â
âIt was a pretty strange day, we had heard just before the game that we needed 21 points and we won and did that. Then to sit around and watch the English game, it was end to end stuff with 90-odd points in the game. It was unbelievable and the emotions were all over the place and I was pretty shot by the end of the night but it was good just to get over the line.
âWe sat and watched the game in the after match and the Scottish boys were very good they sort of paused the whole after-match thing, so we could watch the game then we went out and did the presentation.
âIt was unbelievable the amount of fans that had stayed behind and it was a big party out there and we have to thank Scottish Rugby for letting us do that,â said Payne who played down the significance of his first international try.
âItâs nice to score a try. Everyone seems to make a pretty big deal of it but Iâm just happy to score a try and contribute to the teamâs performance. But like this Saturday, Iâd rather not score a try and us win.â
Meanwhile, Ulster have raided doomed London Welsh for two Irish-qualified players. They have signed lock Peter Browne and scrum-half Paul Rowley.
Rowley, 26, who was born in Limerick, began his career at the Munster Academy and played for the provinceâs U19 and U20 sides before moving to Plymouth Albion before his move to London Welsh at the start of last season.
Lock Browne, 27, is Irish-qualified as his father is Irish.
Ulster team manager Bryn Cunningham said: âPeteâs pedigree and age make him the perfect person to come into an environment that will encourage him to achieve his potential and result in him pushing hard for a starting berth as a six or second-row.
âAfter stints with Newcastle and Harlequins, this season with London Welsh has been a difficult time.
âHowever, he has still managed to put in some excellent performances, particularly at 6.
âWith a stature of 6â7â, it is his athleticism and ball carrying that really stand out, allied to being an excellent line out option.
âHe comes with a great attitude as somebody confident and extremely professional in his approach to the game.â
âHaving gone through all the representative age grade systems at Munster and Ireland, Paulâs pathway was blocked by a number of outstanding Munster scrum-halves.
âA few years in the English Championship honed his game getting regular first team rugby.
âThis past season with London Welsh has not been what he hoped for but he now looks forward to a new challenge where we will look to maximise his undoubted ability.
âHe possesses an all round game with control being at the forefront of his skill set.
âHe will aim to put pressure on Paul Marshall and provide a slightly different option with his left-footed kicking from behind the pack.â