Shortly after winning his first RBS 6 Nations Championship, Ireland Head Coach, Joe Schmidt, was interviewed on RTE television. He paid tribute to his team, to the performance over France and to Brian O’Driscoll, but he also made mention of the Ulster players who had starred in the win over Scarlets the night before.
Perhaps at the forefront of the Ireland Head Coach’s mind was Paddy Jackson. The young fly half had played against Scotland, Wales, England and Italy but wasn’t selected for the deciding game of the Championship against France. That may have been disappointing for Jackson, but the 22 year old would rather focus on what he gained during the 6 Nations rather than what he missed out on:
“It was nice for him to say that (paying tribute to his performance against Scarlets),” says Jackson. "Being a coach there are no easy decisions and it was definitely not an easy decision for him. It is his first RBS 6 Nations and he has won the Championship. It is an unbelievable achievement for him and for the squad. He had to make some tough calls but you have got to respect the fact that he has done brilliantly.
“It was good just to be there (Jackson travelled to the game in Paris) and to have been involved in the other games. It was a brilliant experience. I have come a long way since the 6 Nations last year and it is obviously great to be involved in that bit of Irish rugby history.”
“I have learned so much over the past two months and Joe (Schmidt) has been a massive part of that. He really focuses on the little things and for someone like me, trying to fine-tune my game and trying to get better all the time, he has been brilliant.
“Likewise Neil Doak here (at Ravenhill). I don’t take it for granted that I have had two guys who have really good knowledge and who have helped me a lot. I am keen to keep learning. I am enjoying my rugby. When you look at how things haven’t gone well in the past you definitely learn from them and I am sure there are going to be brilliant times in the future and some bad moments too but you just have to keep learning.”
Tonight Jackson plays for Ulster against Edinburgh at Murrayfield. The home of Scottish Rugby is a place where things haven’t gone well in the past for Jackson – and that is something he is keen to put right:
“I haven’t had too many good memories at Murrayfield,” he says. “Even for Ulster last year I had probably one of my worst games there. But that is in the past now and I am really excited to be back with Ulster. Now we are trying to make our own piece of history and it’s great to be back and having the build up into the Heineken Cup Quarter-Final and also chasing that play off spot in the RaboDirect PRO12.
“It is just a very exciting time at the moment.”