When he wears the green he’s an Irishman, end of.
If you’re a rugby player then being able to hold your temper and especially your tongue is a very important trait. The sport attracts a special type of wind-up merchant and it can’t be easy trying to hold your cool if someone is doing something they shouldn’t in a scrum, or are constantly mouthing shite in your direction. So it’s not a surprise that Jared Payne hasn’t blown up at George Hook’s criticism of him following Ireland’s loss to Wales on Saturday.
After the game Tom McGurk and Hook decided the main reason we lost the game was not our line-out malfunction or some dodgy decisions by Wayne Barnes, but in fact that we had a player playing in the centre who wasn’t actually born in Ireland. The finger for the defeat was pointed at Jared Payne,who is eligible for Ireland through residency and his playing time with Ulster.
So the Kiwi has now responded and speaking in today’s Irish Independent he admits that he’s a soft target when it comes to looking at the team and its problems,
‘Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.I didn’t hear it all. I haven’t really watched any of that sort of thing. People that say that type of stuff have their opinions.’
The process of qualifying for Ireland takes upto three years and we have had a number of foreign based players invovled in our provincials set up’s over the last number of years. Several have also gone on to feature in Ireland squads such as Richardt Strauss,Rodney ah You and Robbie Diack among others in recent years with much less controversy than Payne’s inclusion last week. The centre feels that there is little comprehension of what he has sacrificed to play for his adopted country :
‘It’s a fairly, big one, isn’t it? You only get to see your parents four weeks out of the year. It is a fairly big thing leaving your family and your home and all of your mates. Look, it’s something I thought about and I have no regrets about it.’
Payne is likely to take his position in the side once again this weekend with the Ireland coaching staff indicating only minor changes may be made to the 15 that will start the crunch clash with Scotland in Murrayfie.ld
