Taking a risk on a rare talent

THE theory goes that Brian Ashton and the Irish selectors have taken a bit of a gamble with David Humphreys this afternoon. If so, it's a risk you hope comes off, not least because David Humphreys is a bit of a risk-taker himself.

A free spirit, he has the ability to make a break from his own line and put his winger away. He has the ability to get himself and his team into trouble as well, a point he readily acknowledges with an engaging smile.

"I think that might be one of the criticisms of me in the past but if something's on, quite often I go for it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But that's the way it goes and that's the way I've always played. I've scored some tries and I've given away some tries. That's the way it goes. It's not something I worry about."

Humphreys is, essentially, a mood player, or a confidence player. With other players who are less reliant on their instincts, a certain level of performance is perhaps assured. But if the troughs with Humphreys are occasionally lower, then the peaks are undoubtidly higher.

He enjoyed Queen's University, Belfast, so stayed there for a fourth year. He had a "bad" year at Ballymena, by his own admission, and was then rejuvenated by both Oxford and London Irish in turn.

"I find it very frustrating at times just going out and playing very tight rugby, which is one of the problems I found playing in Ireland. Certainly, going out and running about, and getting the ball in the hands as much as possible, is what I enjoy.

The rugby in Ireland is more based on set-piece play. Over in England they look to develop it beyond that. In England they've been lucky enough to get some of the best players in the world playing there and they've brought a new dimension to the whole situation over there. While the intensity is very high in the games over there, they're also very enjoyable."

There have been many big performances on the big occasions by the former Irish Schools captain. He played at out-half in the 1990 Triple Crown-winning team. A match-winning Ulster debut as substitute, when two penalties and a drop goal turned an 11-3 deficit into a 12-11 victory over Monster in 1992; 19 points on his Irish A debut against Wales the same season, a big game for Oxford in last season's varsity match and a host of others.

"I enjoy playing in the big games, but I think, to be honest, any player enjoys the big games. In some ways I've been lucky in that important performances have come at the right time and sometimes in front of the right people."

Yet, curiously, this constitutes only a sixth cap for the 25-year-old. He refutes the notion that he has under-achieved in any way, attributing it instead to the performances of others as much as himself. "A lot of that is down to the other guys. Paul is playing very well. There's competition out there. It's not a matter of me having any rights to the position.

"There are always peaks and troughs in, any player's career. Nobody plays superbly week-in, week-out, or goes for months, or a season, playing well. That's just part and parcel of playing any sport. You can shoot a 72 one week and a 92 the next," he concludes, phlegmatically.

Nonetheless, Murrayfield today could be a very nicely-timed opportunity for Humphreys in a comparatively non-pressurised situation - that is, in as much as any Five Nations game can be relatively free of pressure. It may also suit Humphreys if the game is true to form by Scottish-Irish standards and is relatively open and loose.

The Lions go calling to South Africa in the summer and Humphreys is in the provisional squad. Though few, if any, players can afford to be conscious of this, occasions such as this afternoon put them in the shop window.

Yet ask Humphreys about his ambitions for the remainder of the season and he mentions this afternoon and helping to drag London Irish "out of the mire". He daren't mention the Lions, until probed further.

"It's something you try not to think about, yet it's there in the background. It's very hard for me, not having played in any of the internationals, to look beyond that. I was delighted, and quite a bit surprised, to be, included in the squad. I'll try and play well on Saturday, then take each league game and then who knows? You're only an injury away."

Were his talent to be realised in the short-term and Humphreys to become an established international and Lion, then it would bard to see him clinging to the olde worlde semi-professional status.

However, Humphreys is in the horns of a dilemma. It's the classic one confronting the modern-day rugby player. A new professional era conflicting with an old one when having a professional career outside the game was normal.

Humphreys, despite being a flair player, belongs in some way to the old school. Ballymena Academy and Queen's educated, he is currently completing his apprenticeship as a solicitor at Mike Gibson's firm, Tughan and Co. He works Monday to Wednesday, flies over for training with London Irish on Thursday; back to work on Monday, and back over to London Irish on Saturday - match day.

Realistically, it's a regime which can't last, and he knows it. "I qualify in six months' time and then I've got to sit down and decide whether I want to get full-time, or whether I want to continue my career in law. It's going to be a very difficult decision and it will be hard to give up my career, although, thankfully, it is something I could go back to.

He accepts it is a difficult balancing act. Nor, one senses, is it helping him to fulfil his undoubtedly vast potential. Willie Anderson Humphreys' coach at London Irish, has little doubt which direction the out-half should be aiming towards, nor any compunction about telling Humphreys.

"He is a very talented player. He can make things happen and I think if he is managed correctly and drilled sufficiently to be consistent, he can be a world-class players.

"Now that is not taking away from his flair, but to be consistent, like, for example, goal kicking, then you need to be consistently doing it. I think he realises that the requirements now to play at that level require you to be training full-time.

"Everything I am saying to you now would be exactly the same things I would say to David Humphreys and he's understanding that now. It is difficult for him to fit in here when he only comes over a couple of days a week and his mind is obviously on the fact that he has to do another job."

In much of this you almost sense a frustration with Anderson, which he readily admits there is. "On his day he's probably one of the best out-halves in the world. I enjoy working with him and probably the frustrating thing is I'd like to work with him a little bit more. And it's not that we're trying to make him a clone here, it's just to make him more consistently a better player."

Perceptions of Humphreys being a flawed or, say, a less reliable kicker than the likes of

Paul Burke, especially in late pressure situations, remain. But what relative flaw there is, Anderson attributes, again, more to the practice-makes-perfect theory than any technical or mental hitch.

"He just needs to work on that area on a more consistent basis. He needs to be at it every day and he may not be getting that opportunity when he's working. And I think he understands that.

"I certainly wouldn't want to be a person to say to him we don't want you to show your flair, and not take risks. But the flair and the risks must be within an acceptable game plan. I think a spark of something like that is excellent, if everybody knows that you may do it and everybody's with you to do it. And also you have to do the basic stuff. Barry John still did the basic stuff, but on occasion he was absolutely magic. He would have done all the things consistently well.

"David probably sees things very quickly and he's very instinctive. He's a good passer and he's very good kicker and on his day he's a very good place-kicker. He wants to enjoy the game and he's a guy that still wants to learn."

He's a guy that could really go places and you'd like to see him get there. A rugby career is a short one (you can be a solicitor forever). And a talent such as Humphreys' is rarer still.