Paul Sackey has never experienced the intimidating atmosphere of Croke Park – but the scarier it is, the better prepared he will be.
The England wing will experience the cauldron of the home of Gaelic sport when he runs down the tunnel to take the field in the RBS 6 Nations Millennium Trophy clash tomorrow evening.
Sackey needs a hint of menace to get his juices flowing and the sound of 80,000 Irish throats screaming for a repeat of the 43-13 record defeat of England there two years ago should do the trick nicely.
“The guys who played there said it was very hostile and an amazing arena to play in,” said Sackey. “We have to quieten the crowd.
“I like being an underdog and going into those environments. It lifts you. It gets your blood boiled. For Wasps I have been in those sort of environments and it brings you closer together. Makes you want to win more.”
It will be Sackey’s 22nd cap of an England career during which he has scored 11 tries and become their most potent finisher in a back line which burns with pace, though not yet with the creative flair to put it to the best use.
For straight-line speed, however, Sackey is difficult to beat. He credits his sharpness to regular sprint sessions with coach Margot Wells, the wife of former Olympic 100m champion Allan.
Neither is he a man you would want to take on at traffic lights as suburban motorists around England’s Bagshot training headquarters in leafy Surrey might have discovered earlier this week when he took his fellow England wing Mark Cueto for a spin in one of his three motors.
Sackey came to the England set-up relatively late, but he is a natural athlete, a former county hurdler and a promising footballer in his younger days when he had trials with Crystal Palace.
His rugby talents were spotted at the Rosslyn Park Schools sevens and it led to a club career with Bedford and London Irish before he settled with Wasps.
At 29, top of his CV is the fact that he was England’s top try scorer at the last World Cup, having bagged four, including one flying dive after taking Jonny Wilkinson’s cross-field kick against Tonga.
Another highlight is scoring the first try in England’s 33-10 victory against Ireland at Twickenham last season.
The battle of Croke Park is likely to be somewhat tougher as England attempt to build on an encouraging performance in defeat against Wales while Ireland go all out for a potential Grand Slam.
One thing England must do is negate the threat of Irish centre and captain Brian O’Driscoll.
“He’s a massive talisman for them,” said Sackey.
“He is strong and reads the game well. He and Ronan O’Gara work brilliantly together and O’Driscoll always seems to get them out of trouble. If we keep him quiet then we have a chance. We are quietly confident.”
