IRELAND v NEW ZEALAND DAVID WALLACE INTERVIEW: Gerry Thornleytalks to David Wallace who knows it's going to take a mighty effort and possibly a bit of luck along the way to beat the All Blacks
SPRINTING ON to Tommy Bowe's offload in classic openside mode to run in a try last Saturday was another timely reminder that, at 32, David Wallace's power and speed remain as good as ever. Indeed, his speed and strength tests are about 20 per cent better than they were a few years ago. He's always been a bit of a freakish talent.
He attributes this in part to the fitness staffs at Munster and Ireland, but though happy about it, stresses that "it's all well and good having good (personal) scores but guys who don't have scores as good might be playing better. It's not the tell-tale factor, it's just one of the tell-tale factors. And attitude is the thing you need to bring to the game too."
Out of contract at the end of the season, Wallace wants to continue beyond and looks well capable of it. It helps that he loves the game now as much as ever, if not more so, even though - despite his apparently laidback personality - the nerves in a big-match week are also as bad as ever.
At least this doesn't extend to his brother Paul's pre-match ritual of throwing up.
"Before the game I'm almost relaxed by comparison to how I've been feeling all week. But it's great, and when things are going well, it's the best job in the world.
"Although when you play badly or have a bad loss, it's probably one of the worst. That really hurts."
Days like the one last May when Munster lifted the Heineken Cup are what make it more worthwhile, even though the immediate demands of a tour to New Zealand and Australia left little time for celebrating, not to mention a reluctance to be satisfied with what's been achieved.
"You don't want to leave anything behind or regrets at the end of your career."
It also goes with the Roy Keane-like mentality which now permeates through Munster and Irish rugby.
Discussing a selection strategy which has kept everyone on their toes, the re-energised training, the technical excellence of new forwards' coach Gert Smal and the demands set by leaders such as Paul O'Connell, Wallace says: "Paul is pedantic about getting the lineouts right and he'll give you a death stare if you get something wrong. Quinny's got a lot of those this week, I have to put in," chuckles Wallace, "and he's very quiet now when Paul's in front of him."
Aside from not actually beating the All Blacks of course, one of his abiding regrets was that he'd never come off the pitch believing he'd played well against them in three previous attempts prior to the June defeat in Wellington.
His first run-in with them was 40-29 defeat at Lansdowne Road in 2001, when the All Blacks recovered from a 23-7 deficit early in the second half, and then there were the June '06 defeats by 34-23 and 27-17 in Hamilton and Auckland.
"They were good performances but again I was thinking afterwards 'did I get any ball to run at them?' and I felt I hadn't, so it was just good to get a bit of ball," he says in reference to his outstanding display in the 21-11 loss last summer in the Cake Tin.
"I don't know if everyone else does it but you tend to kind of put them on a pedestal. They obviously are a great team but to go out and have a good ball-carrying game against them was something I hadn't done really. There was a bit of solace in that."
That November '01 meeting also marked Richie McCaw's debut, when he was man of the match, and Wallace readily concedes that he learns plenty from watching him.
"He's always that threat, you really have to be on your A game to play against him."
Wallace particularly admires the way "he gets on the ball so early, he'll be the second man in the tackle before the ball carrier is even hitting the deck, he's bringing him down to ground and wresting the ball off him. I suppose they really pride themselves on their sevens too, like Josh Kronfeld and Michael Jones, and he's right up with those guys".
You wonder if he's envious of such a tradition, and whether he might contribute to one himself, but that, he says, is more something for when he retires. Besides, he adds with a laugh, players such as O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara and Brian O'Driscoll "are the guys people will look at in that regard as opposed to me. Keeping hold of the Irish jersey is difficult at the moment so that's a good enough reason to play well."
Against Argentina, he could win his 50th Irish cap, and last week's run-in being his 10th try, he has a pretty good strike rate for a backrower, but like the aforementioned trio, a win against the All Blacks is the only box he has still to tick in his win column.
Wallace can still vividly remember going to Musgrave Park in 1989 as a kid to and "seeing the haka live for the first time. It was just phenomenal and to face the haka is something very special to me".
Saturday's game marks a never-be-repeated occasion and a shot at history as well, though given the need to focus on the game, a player's and team's requirements, Wallace warns against the dangers of getting carried away with that.
"We have to believe. We won't win unless we do. We all know we can, we've come so close and we've beaten teams who have beaten New Zealand, so it's obviously doable. But it's going to take probably one of our best games ever and possibly a bit of luck along the way as well."
