Interview Denis Leamy: John O'Sullivan talks to Ireland's number eight Denis Leamy who so far this season has lined out at centre, openside flanker and blindside, ahead of winning his 10th cap tomorrow against Scotland

Versatility can offer the metaphorical double-edged sword that's unlikely to be dulled by boredom. Denis Leamy knows all about it in a sporting context, having been shunted to a variety of positions on the pitch this season.

On Saturday he'll win his 10th cap for Ireland as the home side take on Scotland in the Six Nations Championship clash at Lansdowne Road. He's lined out at centre, openside flanker, blindside and number eight: the latter his current posting with the national team.

The journey has been "interesting" and certainly eventful and it has helped develope the young Munster forward as a person and a player. He has been challenged and has risen to meet each test with athleticism and determination. He charts his progress initially in the differing dynamics that each role thrusts forward.

"There's not a major difference in terms of your running lines (between six and eight), while at seven the lines of running are completely different. You tend to be hitting rucks a lot more.

"(At) Eight you have the ball a lot more, tending to be the first man. That allows you to carry a great deal. It's a bit looser (the role) than the other two (positions)."

He maintains that in playing number eight, the patterns are clearly defined.

"Most of the time the backs would overrule the forwards, and probably rightly so. You're just going a lot of the time on what ball the backs want and what shoulder they want to attack. That takes pressure off me, as does having experienced guys around, who can make decisions; like Rog (Ronan O'Gara) and Strings (Peter Stringer). That helps me a lot."

Leamy downplays his display against France, but he struggles to mask an exceptional performance, a tour de force, that saw him carry the ball on 28 occasions. It's a phenomenal statistic. He admits: "In other games you could have very high stats and no one would recognise that. The microscope is on you a lot more in the bigger games.

"You're under a lot more pressure to perform, and rightly so, but every little thing that you do is catalogued and that means there is no escaping the truth. You either did the right thing in a given situation or you didn't.

"My fitness has been pretty good this year. We worked very hard in Munster for the first six weeks (of the season), usually without the ball, doing one kilometres and things like that. A lot of credit goes to our fitness team down there.

"That work is now showing, though at the time I hated every minute of it. You're puking your guts up twice a week and thinking 'what am I doing this for?'. Then you see in games like France it is all worth it and that's where the reward is. I was very happy with my work-rate but the pitch was exceptional and that made a big difference."

He makes the point that this season, he's come up against some excellent backrows and Scotland's unit ranks favourably with the best.

"You don't have to study them. They're aggressive, very good technically and their speed to ruck and maul is very good. They turned over ball against England and France on numerous occasions out in the wide channels. If we don't get men to those rucks we are going to be in trouble. We are not going to be able to implement our patterns and get our game going.

"It is certainly a challenge for our backrow against what is a very good Scottish unit to try to perform and get parity with them. This year, whether it be for Munster or Ireland, I have been lucky to play against top-class backrows. It's a great challenge and something to which I look forward. I still have an awful lot to prove. When you go out and face these top players your profile rises. Saturday will be the same in the context of the season, they're big, strong and athletic."

On the issue of his yellow card against Wales, Leamy's expression betrays how mortified he felt. He didn't hear the whistle go and just wanted to get the player out of there. He conceded: "Yeah, the lads have been giving me a bit of grief but to be honest, I don't need to be told. It was embarrassing, a stupid thing to do. I was beating myself about it for a few days but I'll just take it as a learning experience. Hopefully I won't do something as stupid again."

The evidence so far in his fledgling international career is he learns quickly.