RUGBY: JOHN O'SULLIVANon the gifted centre whose profile is rising in Joe Schmidt's Leinster set-up
FERGUS McFADDEN sports a metal clasp on his right eyebrow. Friends have teased him about the perceived affectation but the truth is a little more mundane. It’s a medical staple rather than an eyebrow ring.
The Leinster centre explained: “I have actually been getting a little bit of stick from my mates about that over Christmas, saying I was getting carried away with myself with the eyebrow ring. I went along saying it was a gift from my mother.
“It’s not, actually. It’s a staple. I hurt my eye up in Ulster. I wouldn’t bother with that sort of stuff, the big tattoo on my back or anything like that.”
The 24-year-old doesn’t require any superficial accoutrement as his performances contain enough colourful and exuberant touches.
His aptitude in taking opportunities presented is an important asset as is his patience. He was due to travel with Ireland on their summer tour to New Zealand and Australia but suffered a fractured jaw in a game against the Barbarians prior to departure.
It was an unfortunate setback for a gifted young player who has had to find game time in the shadow of one of world rugby’s most prodigious partnerships in Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll. McFadden, who excelled as an underage international across various grades and who was voted the tournament’s most valuable player in helping Ireland win the 2009 Churchill Cup, has had to bide his time. The key, though, is the facility with which he grasps those chances.
Injuries demanded that the centre adapt to the role of left wing, something he accomplished with remarkable assurance: far from being fazed he flourished in the new remit. “I really enjoyed it in those two matches. Joe (Schmidt) had told me even before Brian (O’Driscoll) got injured that he wanted me to mark (Napolioni) Nalaga on the wing so he was going to try me there against the Scarlets.
“I showed okay against Scarlets and things went okay for me in those two games, I thought. I did enjoy it. They were two big games, obviously. Ideally, centre is my position but looking towards the World Cup next year it could bode well for me.
“Hopefully I will be playing centre again like I was up in Ravenhill but as long as I get a bit of ball I don’t mind too much.”
So how did he find the physical challenge of trying to corral the massive Fijian? “We do clips on all the players that we play against. Put him (Nalaga) in a bit of space and he can go around players. He is very quick and a great athlete but thankfully he didn’t get a whole lot of space against me and we managed to shut him down.
“I don’t know exactly what weight he is but if we were standing beside each other you would probably say I was giving away a bit more than four stone. Sometimes you would rather someone with that size rather than someone like Shane Williams with electric feet and pace. I was happy enough to mark him and it was a good challenge.”
His desire to play is obvious but it is the way Leinster attack under Schmidt that he finds equally enthusing. “The last three or four weeks have been great. We would obviously have liked to get the win over in Clermont but getting them back at the Aviva and the performance against them was great. The spirit in the squad at the moment is great.
“Some of the older lads are away at the moment but some of the younger lads have stepped up. Guys like Rhys (Ruddock) and Dominic (Ryan) in the backrow. It’s great to have the strength in depth. Christmas time for us is really just one day off, Christmas Day, but you get through it together and because we are winning games everyone is happy.”
He will be hoping that continues tomorrow evening at the RDS against Connacht.
