Finstown House, Wednesday afternoon. Eric Elwood marches toward the first tee like a woodcutter on a hearty lunch, a bag of clubs slung over his shoulder. David Humphreys turns his body into a long iron just off the gravel drive, shaving the lawn, fritters of grass tumbling from the blade. A single figure guy.

Open day with the Irish squad. Scrubbed clean, bellies full and a morning session buried on the pitches at The King's Hospital. The World Cup is just three days away and the old heads are showing how to murder a free afternoon.

Keith Wood moves into his sixth or seventh interview. Piece of cake. A studious Paddy Johns peers down at the BBC woman casting a dark shadow up the lawn. In the porch Jeremy Davidson natters away, stylishly sprawling his loose-limbed body all over the place. Picking up some French habits at Castres.

From the corner of the Health Centre, Matt Mostyn emerges, walks up the centre path, a broad smile directed at no one in particular. The tentative gait of a new boy, who has already survived a media mauling.

Sixteen stone. Six foot three. No malice or stress yet written in his face. Mostyn's elevation from international obscurity in less than 12 months has left critics poised with knives sharpened. Several have already inflicted flesh wounds. He is the winger who scored three tries against Argentina at Lansdowne Road, eight in total after five outings in an Irish jersey, but who so far has only felt the run of cold steel. After the game against Argentina three weeks ago, Mostyn picked up the papers expecting a reasonable review. Instead he read the deep reluctance of Irish critics to accept his bona fide as an international class winger.

He scored three ties - they said he looked defensively callow. He was awarded man-of-the-match - they said it was a travesty of justice and it should have gone to Dion O'Cuinnegain or Brian O'Driscoll. He felt he finished off some good moves - they said his tries were christmas-wrapped. He felt he had a good international - they said he hadn't the pedigree.

You offer him your bloodstained media hand. He smiles and sits. "Yeah, I heard the reports back," he says. "A few negative reports. A lot of the guys read the papers and when I got those negative reports back a few of the guys like Eric (Elwood) and Keith (Wood) came to me.

"It was a bit hard. But I think a lot of players go through it. I can only do my best and if I get selected I'll play 110 per cent. If I can contribute to the team . . . that's my aim. It's a bit disappointing, I suppose, but you take it and run with it."

Unflappable Warren Gatland is also doing the rounds; BBC, UTV, Sky, each with a different angle. He feels the attacks on Mostyn were unwarranted. "Here is a guy who scored three tries against Argentina and then had to hear comments that he was an impostor, not good enough," says Gatland. "The `jury is out' remarks were extremely difficult to take.

"After the game against Argentina he was quite devastated over some of the things he read. We sat down and talked to him and the players got behind him and told him to have belief in his ability.

"He's very physical and big. For a winger he's got lovely hands. He's quick as well and he has an uncanny ability to score tries. I think there are a lot of players who wouldn't mind being 16 stone, six foot three and as quick as he is. He's also played in the centre in French club rugby," says Gatland. "These are the reasons we've picked him."

It is unusual for Gatland to have to be defending a selection so vigorously, but the chorus of disapproval has forced the Irish management to circle the wagons. When he was looking for confidence and positivity, the team offered flat performances against Ulster and Munster. Gatland saw a wonderful 60 minutes against Argentina, others saw a scary final 15.

"Maybe because he was born in Australia is some of the reason that he's received some of the criticism," offers Gatland.

So it is racism? "I don't know if it is. Maybe it's a bit of a chip on the shoulder thing. He had a good game against Ulster, defended well and did all the basics, caught a couple of high balls and set up a couple of nice rucks for us in midfield, scored a try and didn't make a mistake," he says.

"We've seen someone like Brian O'Driscoll, who has missed a couple of tackles at international level, and no one's made a comment about it. It's been particularly tough for him (Mostyn) over the last six weeks. He's handled it well."

Mostyn, whose grandfather was Irish, started his rugby in Sydney at five and graduated from colts football at Eastwood to Super 12. He also played sevens rugby for Australia in the 1997 World Cup. He had hoped to get into the game in Ireland at the beginning of last season, but was forced to play in France with Begles-Bordeaux because all the provincial contracts had been taken up. Along with Elwood he is the only Connacht player in the squad, although he has not yet played a game for the province.

Having travelled to Australia with the Irish squad he pulled a hamstring before the Test match in Perth, his tour ending prematurely.

"I'd a fitness test the day before the game and couldn't even get to 50 per cent. That was one of the hardest times. I spent the next three weeks in Australia getting physio on it and it still wasn't right by the time I came back," he says. "It was a devastating injury at the time."

Despite the criticism Mostyn is not soured by the game and he looks to the first match this evening against the US as one where he and Bishop hope to warm their hands early and frequently.

"As wingers we've been working off the ball and have tried to get involved. We don't want to be sitting out there. I think it can only help the team. Waiting on the wing and then complaining at the end of the day that you didn't get ball is no good. The way to go is to get involved as much as possible.

"In the game against Argentina I was lucky. I didn't have to do much for my tries, but I knew to anticipate Brian or Dion making a break. I think I can support well and get myself in the right position at the right time, to spot the run off a pass, or make sure I'm at the right depth to take a pass."

In a sense the affable Mostyn needs to prove nothing to anyone except Gatland, and if three tries in one international doesn't please his detractors then a try or two against the US will have little bearing. To change opinions, he must show that he can defend robustly against quality opposition. That's not possible until the game against Australia next week when Ben Tune, Joe Roff or Jason Little start charging down the Lansdowne Road tramlines. But Mostyn is not alone in wanting, even needing, to prove his worth to a broader audience and his talk rarely strays from the collective. Everything is team orientated. Everything is us. Gatland's team-building mantras pervade his conversation.

"Possibly in the first match there will be nerves," says the 24-year-old. "We're just so anxious to do well that little things could go wrong, like dropped passes and things like that. It's so important for us to get off on the right foot against the US."