Bright spark igniting Ireland

When Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara arrived in France they had nothing, asanother Irishman might have put it, to declare but their budding partnership. There was no excess baggage and no scars, physical or mental. One of the attractions of picking younger players is that they do not carry the considerable burden of history.

Hardly anybody from the Emerald Isle knows what it's like to win in Paris - indeed, Oscar Wilde was possibly the last Irishman to score there - but Stringer and O'Gara can take comfort from the fact that they don't know what it's like to lose, either. "Ireland have a bad track record in France," Stringer said. "I think they've lost every game there since 1972, but that doesn't mean a great deal to the newcomers in the side. We've never been in that situation before and we don't have the baggage of defeat. We took exactly the same view going into the match against Scotland."

Stringer and O'Gara made their international debuts at Lansdowne Road last month when Ireland, already earmarked as wooden-spoon contenders following a dismal defeat at the hands of England, overran Scotland. It was as refreshing as it was surprising. Trailing 10-0 to a country they hadn't beaten since 1988, the Irish scored 44 points and five tries on the trot. Unprecedented riches.

"It took us a while to settle down," Stringer said, "but after about 15 minutes we were feeling comfortable." It was noticeable that before the start Mick Galwey, the veteran Shannon forward, put a paternal arm around Stringer and O'Gara. "He told us to relax and not to be too nervous," Stringer said. "He said that once we'd settled in things would happen for us. It turned out very well."

A feature of Ireland's performance that day was the accuracy and speed of Stringer's pass, and Scotland became so exasperated that Kenny Logan, with an uncharacteristic rush of blood, hurled the scrum-half to the ground when he was not in possession, a compliment of sorts.

Stringer had been on the bench at Twickenham, watching England open the Six Nations by putting 50 points on Ireland. It led to speculation that Warren Gatland, the coach, was living on borrowed time and he had nothing to lose but his job when he made substantial changes. Although O'Gara was replaced by David Humphreys in the second half against Scotland, he and Stringer were reunited for the visit of Italy to Dublin two weeks ago. In the 60-13 victory, O'Gara converted all six tries and kicked six penalties.

It is scrum-half, though, that has been the persistent problem position, and Gatland's reluctance in the past to use Stringer, who is 5ft 7in and lightly built, was probably based on nothing more than that he looks like a jockey.

Having decided to drop Tom Tierney, it was logical for Gatland to pair Stringer with O'Gara. Though the former plays for Shannon and the latter Cork Constitution, they are the half-backs for Munster, the only Irish province to reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, but the partnership goes a lot deeper than that.

"I've known Ronan for ages," Stringer said. "We live half a mile from each other in Cork and I see him an awful lot. We train together almost every day and we're good friends as well as team-mates. It certainly helps. I know exactly where he wants the ball. Whether he's lying deep or flat, I know where he'll be and what sort of pass he expects."

There are only two rugby schools in Cork, the Presentation Brothers and the Christian Brothers, and Stringer and O'Gara attended what is known as the Pres. Stringer's rugby career, which began with Cork Constitution, continued with University College Cork, where a four-year course in chemistry had to be put on the back Bunsen burner, interrupted by Shannon's offer of a contract to play in the First Division.

The son of a bank manager who knows a thing or two about production lines, Stringer has three younger brothers, George, John and David, and all of them play scrum-half. When Peter won his first cap, the Stringer clan was out in force. He was given four stand tickets by the IRFU, exercised an option to buy 10 more and it still wasn't enough to accommodate his relatives.

"They were all there," he said, "cousins, uncles, aunts. We all met up in the Berkeley Court Hotel afterwards and had a tremendous evening. The whole thing was unforgettable. I'd been a spectator at Lansdowne Road since I was nine and to be standing on the pitch was something I'd dreamed about. Instead of being in the crowd I was actually out there."

For today's match against France, the players' allocation has been reduced to two stand tickets, so the Stringer supporters' club will be in the hands of his parents. This will not be Stringer's first visit to Paris. After playing for Irish universities against French universities a couple of seasons ago he saw France play Ireland. The Tricolores, of course, won, but none too convincingly and since then have suffered spectacular defeats at Stade de France to Wales and Scotland.

Stringer is not sure who he is up against today except he thinks it's a scrum-half from Stade Français, who happen to be Munster's opponents in the Heineken Cup next month. "France may have had some injuries but whatever side they field will be full of quality. We know it's going to be a lot more difficult, but the two wins we've put together have transformed our confidence. We've been scoring a lot of tries out wide, which is really strange for an Ireland team.

"I know the atmosphere's going to be very different, but Ronan and I have had some experience of playing in France. Appearing for Munster in the European Cup has definitely helped us. We played Perpignan last year and Colomiers this season and it's a useful stepping-stone between club and international rugby."

Before leaving for Paris, Ireland stayed at the Glenview Hotel on the outskirts of Dublin, Stringer room-sharing with his understudy, Guy Easterby. Easterby, the former Rotherham scrum-half now with Ebbw Vale, and his brother Simon, of Llanelli who appears in the back-row today, are connected to the horse-racing Easterbys, good people to know during the Cheltenham Festival. "Unfortunately," Stringer said, "if Guy had any tips he kept them to himself."

France, of course, will be odds-on today, though a string of injuries has forced them to change the three-quarter line yet again. Emile Ntamack, who has played everywhere but half-back, takes over at full-back from Thomas Castaignÿde while the Irish include a couple of heavy hitters in Rob Henderson and Kevin Maggs.

Ireland should be grateful that they do not have to face Olivier Magne, suspended following his Glasgow kiss in Edinburgh. His replacement, Arnaud Costes, was last seen wandering around a hotel with a pint in one hand and a fag in the other. In Montferrand, at least, the spirit of WillieDuggan lives on.