Jackson hoping to learn a lot from a chastening final experience

AFTER THE trauma Paddy Jackson just experienced, he didn’t need to walk through the mixed zone late Saturday night.

It would have been perfectly understandable if he slipped quietly onto the team coach.

But there he was, all alone, no handlers, nobody twirling their finger behind his head, attempting to control his time with the media.

Just a mature 20-year-old bravely facing up to the nightmare situation that had just become a reality.

The bare facts are hard to swallow.

Leinster’s penalty try four minutes into the second half made it 21-6, ensuring there was no way back for the Ulster brigade. It came from a ferocious driving maul off Leo Cullen’s lineout.

The territory was cheaply given up when Jackson kicked the ball dead, despite Stephen Ferris carrying, or more juggling, the ball into the Ulster 22.

The young man looked to referee Nigel Owens for guidance. He was met with a blank expression.

“I just wasn’t sure if I could put it out on the full or not so I was kinda trying to say it to the ref but I didn’t really get a reaction off him so I probably should have just stuck it long but I put it out on the full.

“So, my fault.”

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin immediately hauled him off the field, with the London Irish-bound Ian Humphreys adding some spark to their running game, only to come off injured before the finish.

“Look, this is a professional game and whenever you go on to the pitch you can’t be asking the referee,” said McLaughlin.

“These are things on occasions like this that players should know and they should be able to react to.

“I wouldn’t say anything against Nigel.

“Look, Paddy is an exceptional talent and we picked him today because we knew he could do the job for us. He is an all-round footballer, both with the ball and without it and that was why he was on the pitch today and why he was on the pitch against Edinburgh.

“He is going to have a great future in Irish rugby and I wouldn’t be reading too much into his performance today.”

There was also the drop goal attempt on 35 minutes when Ulster desperately needed points. The young outhalf accepted the responsibility, it just didn’t work out.

“We were doing well and getting some good yards in their 22 but we were going through the phases and I kind of just felt we weren’t going – well, I suppose we were going – but I wasn’t hearing a lot from the outside so I decided to go for the drop goal.

“My foot hit the floor first and it came off the boot a bit wrong.”

Whether Jackson’s selection ahead of Humphreys, or indirectly Paul Marshall, was the right or wrong decision must rest on McLaughlin’s shoulders.

There were other moments Jackson won’t easily forget, like an early kick out on the full, while he spurned a three-on-two overlap as Ulster attacked the Leinster line in the first half. Instead of passing, he ran straight into Jonny Sexton.

Sexton is the standard, of course, and Jackson has his jersey at home now as a reminder.

“Jonny just said ‘well done and keep your head up’. That was very nice of him I thought.

“I can learn a lot from him, he is just so calm and has a lot of time on the ball. Obviously his goal-kicking is world class.

“It is great playing against the likes of him and Brian (O’Driscoll).

“Obviously I have been watching Brian when I was younger, so it was pretty cool playing against him.”

O’Driscoll’s former centre partner for Blackrock College RFC is Jackson’s uncle, Michael.

Jackson will suffer from this exposure but, equally, he knows there isn’t much time to mope around as the Ireland under-20s need their captain to be ready for next month’s Junior World Cup in South Africa.

“At the start of the season I didn’t think I’d be featuring that much in a Heineken Cup at all so it is a huge bonus that I got here and hopefully I will be back again.

“Maybe now that I have played and been in this position, if I am in it again I can be more calm kicking out of hand. I think I will learn a lot from it.”

Shades of Ronan O’Gara way back in 2000 maybe.

“I look forward to watching the rest of his career go from strength to strength,” said retiring team-mate and Springbok, Stefan Terblanche.