BY THE TIME Will Addison made his way into the changing room that serves as an interview area post-match at the Aviva Stadium, he’d had quite a day.
When the 26-year-old woke on Saturday morning, he wasn’t expecting to make his first start for Ireland in Dublin.
With Joe Schmidt’s squad as one of the extra bodies – Finlay Bealham and Tadhg Beirne were the others – for the warm-up and in case of any late injuries, Addison ended up playing the entire 80 minutes against Argentina at outside centre.
Robbie Henshaw felt a tweak in his hamstring as Ireland neared the end of their pre-match preparation and, only 20 minutes before kick-off, Addison was suddenly launched into a “whirlwind” of an evening.
The surprise nature of his involvement proved to be a good thing for the former England U20 international, who joined Ulster from Sale Sharks during the summer, as it “kind of took out that emotion and let me concentrate on the task.”
As soon as the final whistle went and Addison could reflect on what he had achieved, the emotion came out.
“I was pretty much just in tears to my mum [who is from Fermanagh] just there,” said Addison. “They sadly couldn’t come over this time, with it being a spur of the moment selection.
“I’m lucky that I had my girlfriend here, which was great, but I have been on the phone to the parents and the family and I was full of emotion.”
Addison’s Ireland debut came two weekends ago in Chicago as he played the closing quarter of the win over Italy at fullback but the victory against Argentina provided us with a far greater glimpse of his ability.
Speaking after the game, Schmidt revealed that Addison hadn’t spent a great deal of time training at outside centre but he performed admirably despite that fact.
Addison himself “wasn’t totally happy” with his performance and stressed that not training at 13 with Ireland was no excuse.
“I have got to be adept at both positions and I feel that I have taken a step today but I have got a lot to improve on.”
Addison highlighted his set-piece defence as one area he can get better and a close look back at the game shows the Ireland outside centre allowing Emiliano Boffelli to step inside him at one stage, with Johnny Sexton required to cover across promptly.
“I love defending, it’s one of my favourite parts of the game,” said Addison. “Set-piece wise you come up against a new challenge in international rugby.
“The challenge at set-piece and during phase play is something I really need to work closely with Faz [Andy Farrell] on because he is thereabouts as the best defensive coach in the world. I’m very fortunate to have that resource available to me.”
Addison was rather harsh on himself in assessing his performance, however, as he made many excellent contributions for Ireland throughout the win over the Pumas.
The Ulsterman provided some beautiful moments of balanced attacking play, running with the ball in two hands, fixing defenders and organising other players around him – despite being relatively new to Schmidt’s set-up.
There were times where Addison ran a little laterally, but his gliding style of movement is always a threat to the opposition defence and his basic skills are excellent.
A prime example is his work on the ground after being tackled, or ‘bodyball’ as Schmidt’s Ireland term it. Addison is like a salmon fighting for its life after being reeled onto the deck of a boat, thrashing and rolling and using all of his energy to prevent a turnover and buy time for team-mates to arrive to the ruck.
While Addison and Schmidt go some way back, he was first directly involved in Ireland camp in Australia in June, where the coaching staff provided him with more feedback.
“They had looked at a lot of the game footage that I had from Sale so it was about the basics of the game and stuff that I had to work on and I certainly took that on board,” said Addison.
“I’ve had the opportunity at Ulster to implement that week in, week out. Again, credit to my club, they have been great with me, putting in those foundations that you need to be able to thrive at this level.”
Addison certainly looks a classy addition to Schmidt’s squad and the fact that he can also play on the left and right wings, as well as at inside centre, means he could be a useful cog in the wheel for next year’s World Cup.
Addison’s skillset is reminiscent of another versatile Schmidt favourite, the retired Jared Payne, and it’s no coincidence that they are working together closely in Ulster.
“I’ve got Jared as my mentor at my club and he was renowned for his defensive abilities,” said Addison. “I’ve got him mentoring me week in, week out.
“Coming into camp it makes it that bit easier that I have got those systems in my mind. He worked closely with Faz during the summer so I kind of had a head-start thanks to working with JP.”
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
