Ulster and Ireland fly-half Paddy Jackson has opened up about the conflicting emotions on his international debut, having displaced long-time No 10 Ronan O'Gara for a Six Nations match.
Jackson, who misses the start of the current Six Nations through injury, was speaking on Off The Ball's Wednesday Night Rugby special at Greystones rugby club, alongside The Irish Times Gerry Thornley and ex-Ireland prop Reggie Corrigan.
The 23-year-old looked back to the build up to the 2013 match against Scotland when Declan Kidney picked him ahead of O'Gara.
"Obviously it was a crazy time with ROG. I didn't expect to be in there at all. I remember ROG was starting 10 and he came to me [just before the team announcement], shook my hand and said 'congratulations'. I presumed he meant I was on the bench," Jackson recalled.
"I was smiling back at him, saying 'cheers, thanks'. Now I look back at it, I must have looked like an absolute idiot. Then the team got picked and I blanked and didn't know what to say. I apologised to him afterwards and told him that 'I didn't realise I was starting'. He said good luck and said 'if there's anything you need, I'll be here. 'It was brilliant to be starting, but at the same time it's a guy I've watched growing up as a kid and idolised. It was a bit strange as well. It's not the way I wanted to see his career end but I wouldn't take back anything.'"
Our Wednesday NIght Rugby Panel looking out over the Greystones pitch. @paddyjackson10's mechanical arm on show. pic.twitter.com/iiFafHKkx0
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 11, 2015
The lads also analysed the win over Italy and Gerry believes Joe Schmidt will be frustrated that the team did not win by a greater margin.
"They had a lot of pressure points but they didn't make those pressure points tell," he said, adding that Ireland would have won by more if the fixture was later into the championship.
Corrigan was also disappointed by the lack of creativity against a limited Italy side, but expects Jonny Sexton to slot back in seamlessly at 10 despite his lengthy lay-off and believes Ireland will look to hit wide channels earlier to wear out France.
Jackson, who also talked about what it's like to tackle "nice guy" Mathieu Bastareuad, was also full of praise for Ulster team-mate and starting centre against Italy, Jared Payne.
"Personally, what I find so good about him is if you're on the back foot and don't have momentum, he'll carry the ball for you. Opposition might not see him as the biggest player, but he's strong and his chats very good. He's a calm presence and nice to play with," he said, while expecting Joe Schmidt to focus on ball retention in this weekend's France match.
Jackson also had a laugh about his lip-syncing videos, which he has been doing since childhood, and also spoke about the "fractured season" he has endured.
Here's @reggiecorrigan1's portrait in Greystones. A texter said it looks like @willcarling, we're not having that! pic.twitter.com/1F2P6jyfNi
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 11, 2015
