Kieran LewisHe's immensely talented, at 26 his best rugby might still be ahead of him, he's intelligent and articulate, and yet he's one of Leinster's relatively unsung talents. With the anticipated return of the galacticos next week, Kieran Lewis can be forgiven for feeling that familiar old squeeze on his position.
If so, typically he carries it well and, as his performances have frequently shown, he doesn't let such pressure get to him. "It does enter your mind that there are certain people coming back into the squad. But that's the way it has to be. A squad has to have competition. If you're always feeling that you have the position sewn up, then you won't play to your best," he reasoned. "For any game, you have to be focused on that game alone. You've only got a certain number of chances and you have to take them."
The ball didn't come his way too often last Friday, especially in attack rich scenarios, but as he showed with the incisive break which led to the sole try of the game, he is a potent and intelligent player on the ball, as well as a very sound defender. His best position, the one he cut his teeth with at St Mary's when breaking into the Irish Schools team and when winning a high tally of 10 caps at Under-21 level, is outside centre. The problem is that some bloke called Brian has a bit of a hold on that jersey.
Such is the depth of quality in the Leinster backline that Lewis isn't too much further from the Irish starting XV than he is for his provincial team.
When the galacticos were on Lions' duty two summers ago, Lewis duly won his one and only cap in Japan. He was a regular on the revived Irish A team last season, culminating in the Churchill Cup.
Lewis, admittedly, can also play at inside centre and is at ease on the wing as well. "If you look at the stars in this back line, you have to have versatility. Even beyond that, beyond getting into teams, I think that with the brand of rugby we're looking at, you're not always going to be in a second centre role or a first centre role. You have to be able to play different positions on the pitch. It's definitely been a help."
Despite missing a chunk of the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons with a serious knee injury, Lewis has played 51 competitive matches for Leinster, which shows that he hasn't exactly been idle since making his provincial debut against Connacht at the Sportsground in 2002.
Yet given the surfeit of threequarter talent at Leinster's disposal, as good as anywhere else in Europe arguably, one often wondered why he didn't decamp to Munster, also bearing in mind how reliant the European champions have been on imported midfield talent save for the emergence last season of Barry Murphy.
Trevor Hogan's move in the other direction, given the presence of Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan and Mick O'Driscoll there, was a classic illustration of the potential benefits in movement between the provinces.
What's more, both Alan Gaffney and Declan Kidney have made covetous inquiries.
"Yeah, it's something I would have considered but when I weighed up all the options, I was happiest to stay with Leinster," admitted Lewis yesterday. "I think the set-up here is excellent and everyone can see the brand of rugby we play is the type I enjoy playing. Certainly at present, Leinster was the best option for me. I'll have to weigh up the options at the end of the year again but last year I played plenty of games and hopefully it will be the same this year."
Leinster are grateful that Lewis stayed, with his head-to-head against Llanelli's potent All Black Regan King this Saturday a case in point. King has been switched to a freer outside centre role this season and for all Connacht's homework on his ability to stand up an opponent and take him on the outside, King scored two tries after his introduction in Galway last Friday.
"He is a dangerous customer and someone we'll have to monitor," admitted Lewis. "But we've got a few things in mind to help us cope. I was on the wing when we played them there last season. I haven't actually played centre against him before but I've seen him before and seen how dangerous he can be. He's an excellent ball runner, especially with getting the ball away in the tackle. They have a particularly good midfield. It's something we're really going to have to watch. Overall, when you're playing Llanelli, you have to have a high level of physicality and especially so for the midfield.
"When we're putting in tackles, we have to make them stick. We can't allow any off-loads. So that's definitely something to watch."
Kieran Lewis
Position: Centre/Wing
Club: St Mary's College RFC
Date of Birth: 19/08/1980
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 90kg
Official Leinster Caps: 51
Points Scored: 35 (7 tries)
Celtic League/Cup Caps: 42 (5 tries) European Cup Caps: 8 (1 try)
Senior Debut: v Connacht, May 8th, 2002.
European Cup Debut: v Benetton Treviso, January 16th, 2005.
Ireland Caps: 1 (June, 2005 )
Ireland 'A' Caps: 5 (v France x 2, England, USA, NZ Maori)
Ireland 'A' Points: 5 (1 try)
Ireland Under-21 Caps: 10
Ireland Schools Caps: 4
