INTERVIEW JAMES HORWILL (Australian secondrow):THEY SAY he's an extrovert, a secondrow who loves the limelight. James Horwill makes an unlikely attention seeker around the Australian camp.

At two metres tall and 115 kilos, he can stand out on his own without the bells and whistles. But if stealing the limelight does it for him, bring it on. Bring on Paul O’Connell. Bring on Donncha O’Callaghan, or Bob Casey and Leo Cullen, or whatever secondrow combination Declan Kidney will settle for in the first of the series on Sunday at Croke Park.

Horwill, at 23 years old, is doing just fine. The lock is just one of four players on the Australian squad to start every Test in the domestic season. He also finished last season as Australia’s equal top try scorer with four touch downs along with centre Ryan Cross.

That was despite missing five Test matches on their spring tour for an operation on a foot ligament.

Captain Rocky Elsom has said he’d be irked if players started thinking about the next World Cup instead of concentrating on the tour Grand Slam the Australians crave for confidence and momentum. But you can’t think of Horwill without thinking of what he’ll be like in almost three years’ time.

O’Connell’s reputation commands respect but there is little fear in the Queenslander’s voice when he talks of the Irish Lions captain and their probable meeting later this week.

“It’s a massive challenge,” he says of facing O’Connell.

“He’s one of the best locks in the world at the moment. Just looking at the previous British and Irish Lions Tests, he was in fantastic form. This is a big challenge because Ireland are always good in the lineout and around the park so you know you are up for a pretty tough game.

“I played against him last year in Melbourne when Ireland came to us. We had a win but it was a pretty scrappy game.”

There is little thought just yet of who Horwill might face but the combination of O’Connell and O’Callaghan is an inescapable possibility. The two amigos seem to go as a package with Ireland. That, at least is the view of the Australians. It is not an unusual perspective from outside.

Horwill is used to facing partnerships that have not only been together nationally for years but also play at provincial level together.

Facing the two Munster men should make the Test an even greater challenge, especially after their more recent South African experiences.

The one aspect of Australia’s partnership in the secondrow is Horwill and Mark Chisholm have not played that much together. In some circles that is seen as a weakness.

“Yes, I think it makes it more challenging,” says Horwill.

“They (O’Callaghan and O’Connell) play together a lot and it’s definitely an advantage. You see that with the South Africans with Bakkies (Botha) and Victor (Matfield) playing together at provincial level as well as at international level. They’ve got an understanding of their game. We’ve got to be on our game and I know if I’m lucky enough to get picked that will be a big challenge that I’m looking forward to it.

“Myself and Mark try to work together so we’re not specifically a ball-winning lock or a working lock. We want to share the load. We try to work together and do things in tandem so that we share the load and ensure both of us have a big impact on the game. That’s what we’re looking to do, so that both of us have a good impact with or without the ball.

“He (Chisholm) has been going great. Obviously he fractured his wrist and had some complications towards the end of the year. That’s never fun but he’s come back and done well. Ever since he’s got the chance to play he hasn’t looked back. He’s been going really well.”

There is a laissez faire attitude that seems as much part of the Australian make-up as particular to any one player.

Elsom has the same laid-back disposition when talking about what may or may not transpire in a match. The Irish style is not unfamiliar. The conditions will be but in so far as the Ireland team is concerned, it is about how the Australians impose their game and stop Ireland playing the game they know they can play.

“I think sometimes the conditions can dictate how the game is played,” says Horwill.

“We play in South Africa and it’s a lot drier and the game is probably a bit faster than you play over here. It’s probably played a slower, more physical, a more direct game. That’s probably what we’re expecting from the Irish this weekend.”

There is also the Jim Williams factor. The former Munster player and coach will have a huge impact and Australia, as you would expect, see themselves as improving on their England performance.

“That’s an advantage for us definitely,” he says of Williams. Few would disagree.