D'Arcy ready for dream full debut

Ireland centre Gordon D’Arcy is thrilled at the prospect of realising his childhood dream on Saturday despite being handed one of the toughest jobs in world rugby.

The Leinster centre makes his full debut in the RBS 6 Nations opener against France but his delight will have been tempered by the challenge of filling the shoes of Brian O’Driscoll, one of the game’s biggest talents.

O’Driscoll’s failure to recover from his hamstring injury in time for the Paris showdown sees his provincial team-mate fill the number 13 shirt – although for D’Arcy the position is of little importance.

“A starting place in the Ireland team is everything I’ve worked for. I couldn’t care less what position it is, as long as I play,” said the 24-year-old, who has already won five caps as a substitute.

“It’s a great compliment from (coach) Eddie O’Sullivan that he has the confidence in me to replace the best centre in the world. There are similarities between Brian and I – we’re the same size and same build and we’re both good broken field runners.”

However D’Arcy, who played hooker until he was 15 – “my coach was sick of me never going into any rucks, so he told me that if I wanted to run like a back I could be one” – admits he will relish his midfield duties.

“I’m looking forward to the match and playing centre. Your mind doesn’t have time to wander when you’re at centre – you have to concentrate the whole time, which suits me. I like the fact that I get more ball and have a chance to run at people.

“I’ve spoken to Brian. He told me to be patient and it will come. It’s hard for him that he can’t play – it’s a bitter pill to swallow having to watch the game. But he’s been very helpful since I found out I was playing.”

D’Arcy landed his first substitute cap as a 19-year-old rookie of rich potential during the 1999 World Cup but the experience of beginning his Ireland career at such a young age proved too great a burden.

He spent over four years in the international wilderness, making the occasional appearance as his form for Leinster see-sawed from brilliant to poor, resulting in showdown talks with coach Matt Williams who coached the province at the time.

“As a 19-year-old it was just too much too soon. What pulled me back into the reckoning was a couple of swift kicks from certain coaches. Matt told me I had three months to prove I was worth keeping as a Leinster player,” he said.

“I was playing sevens but the Ireland team was just eluding me. I was in the 30-man squads but just wasn’t making the final cut, although it didn’t really weigh on my mind too much because I was still only 21.”

D’Arcy was ignored for the World Cup in Australia but his form for Leinster in the Heineken Cup – he has been filling in for O’Driscoll at provincial level as well – has earned him his first taste of 6 Nations rugby.

“My confidence is up at the moment and the things I try seem to be coming off. I’ve cut down on my mistakes – that’s an area of my game that Eddie has been trying to improve,” he said.

“He told me to keep doing the good things but that I need to cut out the errors. Traditionally I’ve done something stupid in a match but now that is not the case.”