“You can’t bluff your way through a Test match.”
This must be the reason why Joe Schmidt sang Payne’s praises so highly.
Following Ireland’s 10-9 loss to France, last month, Joe Schmidt was asked about injuries. We had Sean O’Brien [hamstring], Dave Kearney [shoulder] and Johnny Sexton [everywhere] in mind.
Schmidt began by extolling on the virtues of Payne’s toughness and determination to play on through a hamstring tear. As it turns out, Payne was more injured than Schmidt thought.
The 31-year-old had a grade one hamstring tear and also managed to tear his quadriceps muscle [front of the thigh]. This all occurred during a relatively short period of time near the end of the first half. Payne tells us:
“There were a few boys dropping left, right and centre in the backs, so we all knew you’d just got to hold on and try and make it if you could.
“I could still run, striding out would have been an interesting one, but if I completely couldn’t run I would have had to come off. I didn’t have to though and got through it.”
Payne had one week to rest and another to prove his fitness to Schmidt and the medical staff, ahead of the England game.
“I got reasonably close to the English game,” he says, “but we decided not to push it too much.”
By ‘we’, Payne means Schmidt. He argued his corner but knew when to wind his neck in.
“You can’t complain too much. You get pissed off that you’re not playing but you’ve just got to go about what you can to rehab yourself and get yourself right. You can’t push yourself too hard.
“You’ve always got to be honest with your coaches, you’ve got to tell them where you think you’re physically at, and if you don’t think you can do a job you can’t bluff your way through a Test match.
“You don’t want to let the rest of the team down so it’s important you’re honest with the coaching team and they can make their coaching decisions from there.”
Payne appears in high spirits and the assumption is he will go straight back into the Irish team.
The only lingering question, this time, is ‘Where?’
“I’ve always played wherever. I’d played a lot of 13 in New Zealand as I’ve said before.
“There were a few injuries at Ulster [in 2013 and 2014] so I was happy to slot in at the back.
“But ripping it for UIster [at fullback] against Oyonnax is a different from turning it on for a Test match.”
