TODAY’S ROUT IN the Aviva Stadium will have brought immense satisfaction to many in the Ireland camp, but few more than Fergus McFadden.
The Leinster man was a somewhat controversial call when Joe Schmidt named him in the number 23 jersey on Thursday and the head coach was asked for lengthy explanations about his choice of replacements. This evening, he can sit back, swirl a glass and breathe in some vindication.
McFadden was called off the bench three times; twice as a blood sub for Andrew Trimble and then Robbie Henshaw, then as a permanent replacement for Jared Payne.
He played a total of 22 minutes, yet made a lasting impact on the game. At varying points he was a left wing, a right wing and slotted into both midfield spots. The energy and opportunism of the Kilkenny man brought a feelgood factor to the contest because he just couldn’t help being at the heart of everything – a try-saving tackle, assisting a superb score and he dotted down a late score of his own for good measure.
“I’m pretty sure that’s why Joe picked me on the bench,” McFadden said he popped up again post-match.
“I can cover four different positions and he wants to have that versatility in there. Everybody’s got to be ready to cover plenty of positions.
“I’m just happy that the involvement I had… some were positive and there were probably a couple of negative ones there that I could do better on.
The one thing coming off the bench under Joe is he likes you to get into the game and fit in. He doesn’t want you to be a world-beater. If you end up doing some good things, great, but first and foremost it’s about fitting in.”
His own try came with the game long won, but the moment that will live longest in the memory was the terrific coast-to-coast score in the first half. While Jamie Heaslip was sending the ball skyward, McFadden was wheeling away to celebrate with a fist-pump of his own.
“I don’t know that I would have made it myself, two guys were corner-flagging me, but Jamie gave me a shout and I popped it to him.”
“At that point of the game, the Italians weer still in with a sniff if they had of scored a try. So, it was good to put it over.
“We got the ball through the hands nicely. Zeebs put Jared into space and popped it back to Andrew. I think the danger with games like that sometimes is that it can get a bit too loose, that’s not what Joe wants either. He wants us to keep on our systems.
“There will be plenty of work-ons that Joe will pick out of that game before we go in to a much stiffer task against Scotland.”
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