Low-key Jamison Gibson-Park still centre of attention for Ireland

The veteran Leinster scrum-half earned his 50th cap against Wales on Friday night, and he is far from finished yet

IF THE CAP FITS: Jamison Gibson-Park with his 50th cap after the Six Nations win against Wales in Dublin on Friday night. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The cog around which everything revolves for Ireland, Jamison Gibson-Park prefers to be anything but the centre of attention.

Traditions dictates that players earning their 50th Test cap are afforded the honour of trotting out of the tunnel ahead of everyone else. The Leinster man decided against and instead stood his ground in the line-up even as he was beckoned forward.

There’s an easy stitch to make there, to say that this was a very visual representation of the consummate team player. Never one to blow his own trumpet, he was just as composed when dissecting his big night after the 27-17 Six Nations win over Wales.

“Yeah, look, I wouldn't be a massive fan of all the goings-ons, but it's part and parcel of hitting a milestone and I understand it's important to acknowledge … I'm hugely grateful, man, to chalk up 50 caps.

“I was nearly 29 when I debuted for Ireland, so had you asked me then how it was all going to unfold, I really had no idea. So I'm pretty grateful to get to this point, for sure.” He’d already been ambushed by others’ determination to mark the day.

He knew something “fishy” was up when he left home after the day off to return to camp in midweek and his wife and three young kids were on the way out and all decked in Irish jerseys. He was right to be suspicious.

The four of them were on their way to the Aviva Stadium to record the cutest of good luck messages to their husband and dad. It was only the next day when someone in the IRFU communications team showed him the finished product.

“It was pretty emotional seeing it.” Gibson-Park has copped his fair share of slagging in recent years, the gist of it being that his family spends as much time on that Aviva pitch as he does, but the wonder of it is that he was almost 29 before he graced it for the first time in green.

It was the months before the 2019 World Cup before he became eligible to play Test rugby for his adopted country under what was then a three-year residency rule, and he had very few grand ideas of himself back then.

Conor Murray was still in his imperial phase at that point, Kieran Marmion and Luke McGrath were sniffing around the margins. McGrath had also been Leinster’s preferred nine for Gibson-Park’s first three years at the province.

There were no grand goal set for himself as an international player at the time. He looks back now and admits that maybe just being happy to be there wasn’t the healthiest of attitudes but it’s no surprise that the summit remained hidden from sight then.

The years since have changed that perspective. His and everyone else’s.

Andy Farrell spoke before the Wales game about how he wouldn’t swap Gibson-Park for Antoine Dupont. There is no higher praise in world rugby. And the beauty of it is that the naturalised Kiwi shows no signs of slowing down.

He remains maybe the single most important player in the Ireland system as the team turns towards next year’s World Cup. Irrepleacable, really. He is definitely the one Farrell can least afford to lose given the gap between him and the other nines.

“I feel pretty good in my body man, if I'm honest. Pretty happy with how I'm feeling. I suppose it takes a little bit more work if you're a player of my age, but in the same vein, I was late getting started.

“I was nearly 29 when I debuted for Ireland and up to that point I probably hadn't really been the number one figure in any of the teams I was in. I was coming off the bench a lot, so I suppose I hadn't played a lot of minutes up until then.

“I don't know whether that adds in as well to the factor, but I feel pretty good and I'm looking forward to the next little while. I still feel as though there's a lot to improve on in my game and the team's game, so it's hugely exciting, yeah.”