Gerry Thornley talks to a player who has worked hard to convert his fiery tendencies into a positive

Discipline, discipline, discipline. If Alan Quinlan's coaches could have put a CD player and earphones inside his headgear over the years, those words would have been repeated ad nauseam. In fairness to Quinlan, it seems to have become his own mantra this season as well.

It's tougher for Quinlan than most. He's got a bit of the devil in his eye and though he can be self-effacing and quiet enough off the pitch, on it the Munster Lip is an excitable sort. Anthony Foley once said that playing between Quinlan and Eddie Halvey was like having your own stereo system on the pitch.

Yet Quinlan plays his best rugby, and comes up with those trademark big plays, when he's fired up. He can graft with the best of them, tackling and running hard, but it's alertness in the loose or in broken play, his ability to win turnovers or suddenly explode into the game which sets him apart - witness that charge-down try from 45 metres which turned the Celtic League final decisively Munster's way.

In another promising portent, that was at the same Millennium Stadium where he will line up alongside four Munster team-mates on Saturday - and all of them fellow Shannon men.

À la Roy Keane, if you take too much of that devil out of Quinny you risk ending up with half the player. But, sometimes, he does go over the edge. Never more so than when incurring a yellow card for over-zealous rucking within a minute of his introduction in the second Test in Auckland, after which New Zealand pulled clear. He's had to learn the hard way, and there's no more salient lesson than the guilt as you look around an unforgiving dressing-room.

"It's something that I've worked hard on," he admits. "The way I play is an aggressive, in-your-face type of rugby, so I'm really pleased I have improved my discipline, and it's such a vital part of the modern game.

"There is a fine line there, but I've identified that within myself. I need to control it, and I want to control it because it has affected me in the past, and I don't want to go back down that road again of having a problem with my discipline. I'm not saying it's completely fixed but I've been really pleased with the way I've improved it."

It's worth pointing out Quinlan has been in the Irish 22 for the last eight games, starting against Fiji and appearing in all the other seven. Nor can one recount any daft-as-a-brush penalties or even yellow cards. His form has been consistently excellent, despite alternating between open-side for Munster and the blind-side for Ireland.

"I've been really pleased with my form all season. I suppose I'm pushing on a little bit now," said the 28-year-old.

"I'd say myself I'm getting a bit more mature and I'm enjoying playing. It's taken a lot of people time to adjust to the professional era, and now there's a lot of guys coming through. I've worked hard, improved my fitness and my strength. I've been happy with my form and I suppose when you're a happy player you play well, but I'm under no illusions. I can't get complacent."

He seems also to have been cursed with ill-timed injuries over the years. When he was injury free, performing well in the wins over Italy and France two years ago, foot-and-mouth interrupted his and Ireland's season.

This is his first championship start since then, and he knows the back-row is the most competitive area in the upper tier of Irish rugby right now. A look at the A team line-up in the first three games demonstrates that, not to mention the injured David Wallace, or indeed Aidan McCullen and Trevor Brennan. Five or more Test-quality back-rowers other sides would gladly put in their team won't even make the World Cup squad.

"I look at the guys behind us, I've been in that position before and I'm lucky to have been in the 22 at the start of the Six Nations. You've got Eric (Miller), Simon (Easterby) Kieron (Dawson) and Aidan McCullen, who's shown great form this season with Leinster, so you can't take your eye off the ball for a second and get complacent. It's good to have competition and it's a very healthy thing for Irish rugby, not alone in the back-row. In 90 per cent of places there's great competition.

"It's a great opportunity for me. I think Victor's misfortune has been my good luck. I feel sorry for him, he'd been playing so well," admits Quinlan, for whom this will be a first appearance against Wales.

"I'm confident I can do well and I've confidence in my own ability. It's a game we're going out purely to win. It's not about scoring a load of points, we feel it's going to be a very difficult game for us, so we're just targeting a win."