Rugby World Cup: Hitherto confined to playing bit parts, John Kelly found himself thrust into last Saturday's game against the holders and hosts at the half-way point, and now finds himself in the starting line-up for a World Cup quarter-final.

That's often the lot of a versatile and reliable squad member, and it helps if you have a sound temperament - or, at any rate, if you convey that impression.

Somehow, it was always likely one of the squad's most versatile players, who has played 16 times for Ireland and a host of times for Munster all across the three-quarter line, would end up playing more than cameo roles.

Like the other nine squad members who have yet to start a game in this tournament, Kelly would have been disappointed not to feature more prominently, especially in one of the opening pool games. But he's had to be ready for involvement at any moment, having been on the bench in all four.

He barely broke sweat in an injury-time run-out against Romania, ran in a try in a 10-minute cameo against Namibia, remained on the bench against Argentina, and then, when called in for Denis Hickie at the end of the first half against Australia, wasn't allowed onto the pitch.

"I was coming on before half-time, but the fourth official (Pablo Deluca) wouldn't let me on, so that turned out to be the last play of the half. I was nervous at the time, but that gave me 10 minutes to get around it," explained Kelly yesterday.

"To be honest I've felt a lot more nervous going on in other games. I really felt good last Saturday and I was ready to go on. I got a hit in straight away and that always settles you down. I felt good and I'm looking forward to Sunday as well."

A highlight would have been the sharp, blindside call and transfer which led to Brian O'Driscoll's try.

"It's nice to be involved in any try and to give the assist. I know he was very generous in his praise of me, but to be honest I looked at it afterwards and he had to do a lot of work to finish it, and he played down his own role a lot. He beat Sailor on the outside and Flatley coming across, but it was nice of him to give me some praise."

Much like Anthony Foley, Kelly is one of those players who seems to draw more compliments from his team-mates than from the media.

"If you have the appreciation of your peers that's the most important thing really, and your coaches as well."

One imagines coaches are delighted to have him available, with his long-standing Munster mentor and Irish assistant coach Declan Kidney being a case in point.

"He does what I would see as some of the less attractive work for wingers," Kidney says, "and he is what I would describe as a very good team player in that he backs up the other players. If he's anywhere near the ball he would be the first in to support."

Even before it became fashionable, Kelly was a workaholic winger who went looking for the game if the game wasn't coming to him. Although modesty forbids him from extolling his role in O'Driscoll's try, an archetypal winger would not necessarily have had the vision, as well as the hands, to make that pass.

All of this he attributes to his circuitous route to the wing, having played outhalf until he was 19 - "for some strange reason, because I couldn't kick". Defensive coach Mike Ford will also tell you he is one of the cleverest and most effective defenders in the squad.

And his strike rate is decidedly useful: eight tries in 16 Tests, it looks even better in the context of seven tries from a dozen starts.

"I've got a nice strike rate and I enjoy scoring tries, everybody does, but I wouldn't get carried away by it. I've had a good spell in my international career, but I could just as easily have a lean spell. I remember with Munster one year, opportunities just didn't come my way and if you're a winger that does play on your mind a bit. So when you are scoring tries it does give you that extra bit of confidence."

Last summer he played against Australia in Perth on the left wing, and came on against Namibia. A few subtle things apart, such as tackling more with his left shoulder, he seems pretty comfortable about the switch to the left wing.

Sitting on the bank of a calm Yarra River on a sunny day seemed a particularly fitting backdrop for him to reflect on his World Cup and contemplate what lies ahead. Having played European Cup finals, and played against the All Blacks, this engaging fella seems utterly unfazed by the prospect of a World Cup quarter-final.

"It might be a front too, because I do get nervous, and I get very nervous before games. Shane Byrne tries to wind me up and Ronan O'Gara says things to me as well, and that kind of settles you down. You get nervous, but at the back of your mind you have to remind yourself that you're good enough to be here."