IAN MADIGAN WILL be realising a dream when he runs out against Romania at Wembley tomorrow.
The Leinster playmaker received a huge boost by being named at out-half by Joe Schmidt yesterday. Madigan’s selection is a huge vote of confidence from Ireland’s head coach with Paddy Jackson having to contend with a place on the bench.
“It’s a big lift but I don’t use selection to compare myself to other players,” said Madigan. “I view it as an opportunity for myself to start a game in a World Cup. It’s a dream of mine to be presented with this opportunity.
If I had been picked to come off the bench, or I wasn’t selected to be in the 23, then I’d deal with that on an individual basis.
“I wouldn’t be looking at who is starting, it’s about what I can control and, for me, that’s going out and leading the team around the pitch and doing my best to make the players around me look as good as possible.”
Madigan made an eye-catching cameo from the bench against Canada last weekend when he replaced Jonathan Sexton in the 55th minute at the Millennium Stadium.
His scything break and perfectly-timed pass to set up Jared Payne for Ireland’s final try was a particular highlight, and Madigan is looking forward to linking up with the Ulster centre again.
“Jared is a brilliant player. He’s one of those guys you just want to get the ball into his hands. He’s going to make the right decision nine times out of ten and is a very, very good defender.
“He’s one of the guys who really controls the defence, guides the forwards and he’s very comfortable in the wide channels.
“He’s got good pace so he has no problem showing a guy the outside and tracking him down and if someone runs hard at his inside shoulder, he’s very strong. He’s a very well-rounded player and it’s very nice for me going into a game and having someone of his experience outside me.”
Schmidt hinted yesterday that Madigan may get a run at scrum-half, provided Ireland have established a comfortable lead against the Romanians.
As well as providing cover for centre and the back three, the Dubliner has been nominated to provide back-up as Ireland’s third-choice scrum-half for the tournament behind frontliners Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan.
If called upon to fill in at number nine, Madigan insists he will be keeping it simple.
“If it happens in a big game you have got to really trust the guys around you,” he explained. “A big part of playing scrum-half is playing within what you have prepared that week, listening to your out-half, listening to the forwards around you and if I go in with the mentality that I am going to do the basics well and listen to the guys around me, I’d be confident that I would be able to do the job sufficiently well.
“I’m not going in there looking to make scything breaks or pulling off big plays, I’ll go in there and facilitate the guys around me. Similar to the way I am approaching out-half this week, I’m not going in there to make scintillating breaks, I’m going in there to facilitate other guys around me and if those opportunities present themselves, that’s well and good, but that is not how I will approach the game.”
Certainly, there is half-back pedigree in Madigan’s family. His older brother David played scrum-half for Blackrock College during their triumphant Leinster Schools Senior Cup campaign in 2004.
“We played AIL together for Blackrock, he played scrum-half and I played out-half,” Madigan added.
“I had some good conversations with him during the summer, he was just going through the fundamentals and what he thought was important and he gave me some pointers on what he used to rely on when he felt under pressure.
Simple things with passing and box kicking. I have had some great chats with Eoin and Conor as well.
“They have been generous with their time and given me advice. When I was away on holiday with Dave I had the ball out, practicing off the base, and he was giving me a few tips just like the old days back in school.
“But yeah, it’s one of those positions I know I am not going to be perfecting when I go in there but if I go in there and do the basics well and facilitate the guys around me, please God that will be enough.”
