Jared Payne will be four years in Ulster, and Ireland, when the calendar is flipped to July.
Having injured his Achilles tendon in October 2011, the New Zealander must have questioned whether it was worth upping sticks and relocating almost 20,000 kilometres away. He returned to action for 2012/13 season and impressed at fullback.
Last season, and this, saw him trialled at outside centre for Ulster. As soon as Irish supporters saw the Kiwi in full flow, they were speaking of him as an Ireland prospect. Payne made his Test debut, with Ireland, in November 2014. Five international matches later and he is a Six Nations winner. He is all but guaranteed a spot in Ireland’s World Cup squad.
For all the warm Ulster welcomes, advice from veterans like Gordon D’Arcy and Test appearances, Payne reveals the moment he truly felt at home, in Ireland.
‘Coffee is the big one. You always need where to go for a good coffee. Once you find that, you feel at home.’
He adds, ‘I’ve found myself saying something interesting things since [I arrived]. I would be responding to someone and find myself saying “aye” or using the lingo; “bit of craic” and stuff like that. It’s when you do that you realise you are settled down and bedded in.
‘When you talk to people back home and hear the way they put things, you’ve basically forgotten it.’
Before he even arrived in Ulster, Payne gained some experience of Irish culture – a GAA training session while at Super Rugby’s Canterbury Crusaders.
‘We had a GAA trainer that took us for a few sessions for a bit of craic, in our pre-season with the Crusaders. We didn’t quite grasp it properly. I realised that after I watched a few games here. They don’t play it the way we tried to play it… The outside backs stood out as they were a skillful bunch. The forwards struggled a bit, especially the big boys at the front.
‘We were just running onto the field, putting up high kicks and seeing who could get who.’
In fairness, that does not sound too far off actual GAA.
He adds, ‘I want to go to a game. I’ve watched a few on TV but the timing has never been any good. One of the assistant trainers [at Ulster] plays a bit and has been trying to get us down for a game.’
Jonny Bell, Jared Payne and Iain Henderson of Ulster Rugby.Very much an adopted Ulsterman, Payne likes to get out and about the province. ‘I’ve been up to Dunfanaghy, in Donegal, a few times and really enjoyed it. I always like getting up the north coast as there are good beaches up there. Belfast is nice. I have been around a bit but those spots are quite nice. Obviously, you’ve got to get the good weather as the weather can be sometimes cruel.
‘I’d be more of a fisherman and a diver so I have tried out snorkelling, once or twice, up the north coast. It was pretty chilly so I won’t rush back to jump in. If there’s a bit of surf, I jump in. We went up to Bundoran on a pre-season camp. We had a bit of fun on a few surfboards.’
