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PADDY JACKSON
“I really enjoyed the series,” says Paddy. “With
Johnny (Sexton) in such good form, I wasn’t sure
that I would get that much game time, so to get
70 minutes against Canada and to play against
New Zealand in Dublin was pretty incredible. It
was unfortunate for Johnny to pick up an injury
early against New Zealand so I was certainly
thrown in earlier than expected, but it is such
a special feeling to wear the green jersey and I
just tried to make the most of it. Unfortunately,
we couldn’t match the result from Chicago a
couple of weeks earlier but it was the first time
I have played against the All Blacks, so it was a
really good experience. I was really happy with
my performances and how the games went, then
getting the win in the final game against Australia
topped everything off.”
While the victory over Australia signalled the final
result in the historic treble, it also marked Ireland
captain Rory Best’s 100th international cap, and
Jackson was delighted to be able to celebrate it
alongside his fellow Ulster man:
“It was a great day and we obviously all wanted to
win but everyone wanted to make it extra special
for Rory. We talked about it beforehand, we were
all playing for him. We knew his whole family were
there, the kids and Jodie and it was amazing
to see the kids running out with him and stand
beside him for the anthems. Afterwards was really
special when we all got to celebrate with him.”
Jackson and Best were among the five Ulster
players who started against Australia, and
Jackson noted that it is great to see his club
mates being recognised at international level:
“Year on year we are getting more guys involved
in the Ireland set up. It is always good to get out
there with your fellow Ulster players and it shows
the increase in competitiveness here and that
the skills are being recognised by the national
set up, which is great. I know from working with
the (Ulster) boys on a daily basis just how good
they are, so I’m delighted to see them getting that
recognition on the bigger stage.”
For Jackson and co, there is little time to dwell
on the international success as they return this
weekend for a huge Champions Cup showdown
with French Top 14 league leaders Clermont at
Kingspan Stadium.
“I had a week off last week to rest the body, but
these back-to-back Clermont games have been
in the back of my mind. It is going to be a tough
test. They are one of the best teams in Europe, so
we are going to have to be on top of our game to
get the win. It will be a fast, physical challenge but
training has gone well this week and hopefully we
can carry that momentum into the game.”
“We will certainly take some confidence from
the win (away to Cardiff) last weekend. I thought
the guys started very well, but some ill-discipline
and small errors let Cardiff back into the game.
However, to finish off with a bonus point win was
a great start to the Christmas run in, especially
after missing out on a game against Zebre.”
The trip to Cardiff was Ulster’s first game in
four weeks, due to the Autumn Series and the
postponed Zebre game, and Jackson admits
the team were raring to get back on the pitch
following two successive defeats: “Coming into
the international break we were left disappointed
by the Munster and Edinburgh games, which was
hard to take. Now after gaining some momentum
in Cardiff we can get our performances together
and the wins should follow. It’s great to be back
with Ulster and I’m looking forward to the next run
of games.”
PADDY JACKSON
Having steered Ireland so majestically to a maiden win in South Africa during
the summer tour, Paddy Jackson further underlined his quality as a world
class out-half during the Autumn Series, when he helped Ireland become
the first northern hemisphere side since 2003 to beat the ‘big three’ of South
Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the same calendar year.