He was dropped for two years after winning his first cap, but he's made the most of what he's got, and is still here 49 caps later. Paddy Johns will lead the Irish team out today, and unbeknownst to him, the rest will dally to leave him in splendid isolation. Today is, in some respects, his day.

Quietly, unobtrusively, modestly, even shyly, in a very Paddy Johns way, the 29-year-old prodigal son of Dungannon today becomes one of a select band of just nine Irish players to win a half century or more of caps. And we've hardly noticed him along the way.

On the pitch, he's not your dynamic, modern-day lock, who springs for re-starts on the charge, a la Malcolm O'Kelly, or a quasi back-rower who bursts free in the loose with maybe a side-step or skip-pass thrown in. He's not the most strikingly athletic line-out ball winner - a prop-cum-lifter and team-mate once bemoaning "you need a JCB to lift Paddy".

But he wins his ball at the front, and with experience has become quietly competitive and effective on the opposition throw. He's also an honest toiler, who hits more than his fair share of rucks and opponents. A Trojan workhorse, and every pack still needs one, for it's his type who gives the modern boys some slack.

Off the pitch, he's well . . . quiet, unobtrusive, modest and even shy. But his word's his bond, and he does everything with painstaking diligence and correctness. As a captain, of course, he commands respect from his peers, even if he stumbles over his words at times after gathering players and backroom staff together for a pre-match address.

His post-match addresses have had their moments, too - at the Welsh banquet after the Wembley win he thanked "Scotland" for a good game.

If team-talks are funny since Johns came on board as captain, then press conferences are just as good. Never one to use a paragraph where a word will do, you can frequently see the smiles crease the features of the Irish management as each response signals a pregnant pause.

The best of all was the slightly jet-lagged tour opener in South Africa, made all the giddier by the unusual presence of the entire Irish squad. In the hope of provoking a lengthy response, a local reporter pointed out Ireland's win-less record of 10 matches against the Boks. Johns's reply was: "Well, as you say, 10 games without a win. There's definitely room for improvement there."

Cue guffaws all round from team-mates.

Ask him about speechmaking or press conferences and the shy smile briefly flickers once more. "It doesn't come naturally," he admits. "I do it because it's part of my job, and I do it to the best of my ability." But he gets a fair slagging over it.

"Paddy Johns? One of the all-time heroes of Irish rugby," says Donal Lenihan, good-naturedly, as if preparing the slagging that was about to come Johns' way last night as part of a surprise package of presentations for the genial giant of Irish rugby.

"I mean, he's the perfect gentleman. He's every mother's dream. He's a very much a family man, he's two kids now. He has his rugby and his family, they're the two things in his life. And I know his mother and all the extended family are coming to the game on Saturday and I only hope he gets the reward he deserves by leading Ireland to a victory."

Lenihan partnered Johns in the second row on the day the big Ulster boy made his debut in a scrappy win, courtesy of a late Michael Kiernan penalty, over Argentina in 1990.

"I remember the training session on the Thursday beforehand. He was jumping in the middle of the line and he'd never jumped there before. He was incredibly nervous and I remember staying back at the end of the session, working through the whole thing with him. But it would be fair to say, after the performance of the pack that day, if you'd said he was going to get 50 caps, I don't think anybody would have believed it."

If the 52-times capped Lenihan wants to stay seventh in the pecking order of most capped Irish players, then he'd better drop Johns pronto. "There's no one more deserving of the honour in the group that we have at the moment," says Lenihan. "He's hugely respected within the group and his commitment and workrate are an example to any young player. Since he came into the captaincy role in South Africa, he's been fantastic for us on and off the field and I only hope that he gets the day he deserves.

"His work-rate is what's got him where he is. He got 18 caps or something as a number eight. He's the type of fella who is totally methodical. Everything has to be written down for him, explained to him, and he'll go through the whole game in his mind."

One of the great mysteries about Johns is how somehow so correct and precise, so self-effacing, and so soft-spoken to the point where it seems he is whispering, becomes an aggressive, abrasive, enforcer-type figure on the pitch. Apparently, within the team environment he's spitting venom by the Thursday.

According to Lenihan, this beast within the gentle giant was always there, it's only being noticed more of late. "He is a Jekyll and Hyde character, there's no question about that," he says. Professionalism with Saracens and the captaincy of Ireland has hardened him up, but the toughness was always there.

"I remember one Munster-Ulster interpro, going back 10 years, and taking a short penalty and this fella coming in and halving me," recalls Lenihan, almost wincing at the memory. "I remember catching my ribs and looking around to see who it was, and I couldn't believe it when it was Paddy Johns, because he certainly never had the reputation."

So what comes over you, Paddy? "What comes over me? I'm the same person on and off the field, but when I go to the restaurant or the pub, I'm not going to be in contact situations, unless somebody spills a beer over me. And rugby is a contact sport. You can either be aggressive or not. You've got to be able to look after yourself."

The notion that the Irish captaincy brought out more aggressiveness, as if out of duty, is also given the dead bat treatment. "Maybe self-consciously, I don't know. I always thought I was aggressive before I was captain. Maybe you should ask the players."

According to the team doctor, Donal O'Shaughnessy, Johns is meticulous in taking care of himself. "I've never come across anyone like him in my lifetime in sports. He's a model professional. He does everything he's told, and he's on time for every appointment, be it massage, or physio, or medical. He's so well versed on his own body that he can work the machines himself.

"Paddy worked with me as a dentist in my health centre and he's a model professional about his dentistry, too. He's a very serious man, very diligent. He takes a fair bit of slagging from the other boys, but he takes it in good spirit. All you get is a little wry smile. Nothing else."

His body is a temple then, and accordingly, he rarely misses a game. "I know how to look after myself body-wise. I know my body pretty well and I guess the medical background helps," he says.

After a delayed start this season following microscopic surgery on his knee, Johns hasn't missed a game. He has only missed one game for Ireland, and that through suspected appendicitis. "It didn't materialise. My appendix is still there. I watched the game in Belfast and I was sick," he adds, meaning figuratively, not physically.

In the event, it only delayed today's landmark by a game. "To be honest with you I've only thought about it really seriously when I got to about 48, but still I wouldn't pre-empt it until it was here. I didn't set out to win 50 caps, I just want to win the next one, and the next one. I just want to play for Ireland, and play well.

"When I got dropped after winning my first cap, it was two years until my next one. It was very hard, and I wanted to make sure it wouldn't be another two years for my next one."

Leading out Ireland is "very special", but no more special for being his 50th. "It's not a big deal. not any more than when I won 30 or 40, it doesn't matter. If I'd finished on 49 caps and did all I could to achieve what I achieved, then I'd be happy. If I'd ended up with 30 caps, and it could have been 50, then I would have been disappointed. As long as I do all I can, to achieve as many caps as I can, then I'm happy."

On that score, at any rate, he's every reason to be happy.