Jared Payne is enjoying centre stage

No fuss, no fanfare.

There Jared Payne was last Sunday, four months on from the fractured foot that cut short his World Cup, going about his business against Wales at the Aviva Stadium. Eleven tackles here, a handful of half-breaks there, and a presence that can’t be calculated.

Scroll back to the early days of that World Cup and you may remember the Ulster man’s worth being questioned and Joe Schmidt going out to bat for him. Watching Payne orchestrate Ireland’s defence on Sunday was to understand why.