Young tiger sharpens his claws for battle

THESE are crazy times following the dawn of the professional era. Some of the Irish players who took flight to the English League might well be tempted to paraphrase Tarzan on returning home to Jane: "It's a jungle out there." But Leicester's Eric Miller has taken to it like the tiger that he is.

It's perhaps no coincidence that the two most impressive young Irish performers this season are the two players who have revelled in the professional climate and higher level of club rugby which the English League offers.

No less than Jeremy Davidson, professionalism was made for Eric Miller, and Eric Miller was made for professionalism. Talk to him for a while and you sense he wants it all; the full time training, working and playing with the best, and, yes, the money.

Mature, clear headed and determined. He made the breakthrough with Leicester this season, enjoyed a European Cup final appearance - albeit a losing one - last week, and will make his third international appearance inside a month this afternoon. Give him more, lots more.

It's changed him, too, physically as much as mentally. Oscillating between 15 and 15 1/2 stone since he was 18, Miller has suddenly filled out to over 16 stone. Gone is the flick of blonde hair above the forehead, replaced by a crew cut which emphasises the new physique.

Ask this young Irishman if he'd made the same strides as a player had he remained at home, and the answer if unequivocal.

"Whether or not I would have made the (Irish) team, and things would have happened with the same speed, I don't know. But it's definitely made me a better player in a quicker time. I don't think I would have been as far down the line as a player if I'd been playing at home and I was on the team now.

"I'd recommend it to anyone. I don't really care what people say, but at the end of the day if guys are interested in how they perform and how good a player they can be, they have to be playing at a high standard of rugby. That's the bottom line really."

In theory, it should improve any player who samples it.

"Absolutely, depending on what club and what situation he's going in to. Everyone has their own situation, but I've definitely benefitted from my move. Some guys in London Irish haven't enjoyed themselves, but Jeremy has and he's in the same club, so maybe it's a mental thing. I'm not sure. You'd have to ask them I suppose. But as a rule it's definitely beneficial."

Most of all, he wants to maximise his ability to the limit. At 21, the timing of professionalism couldn't have been better.

"Definitely. Absolutely. There's no doubt about it. I am committed to playing at a higher standard of rugby and, at the end of the day, that's all I care about. I just want to be the best player I can be. That's what life is all about; to be the best you can be at whatever you do."

Not that it was always so clearly mapped out for the young boy from Knocklyon. Miller's career is further proof were it needed, that a wide variety of sporting interests in the formative years is no hindrance to ultimately specialising in one. Quite the opposite, perhaps.

His time as a Gaelic full forward cum midfielder with underage sides at Ballyboden St Enda's is relatively well known, less so his midfield prowess with Rangers in Bushy Park. In fact, soccer was his "first game", but he agrees that the IRFU could do worse than luring Gaelic players with the carrot of professionalism.

Both Gaelic and soccer were subsequently abandoned, and rugby took over, when he began boarding at Wesley College in his early teens. Balls skills and imposing physique already developed, he took to the game easily - after a brief flirtation in the second row - initially as a centre, then a flanker, and finally a number eight. A Leinster Junior Cup final and quarter final were followed by two Senior Cup quarter finals and a semi final defeat to Clongowes Wood in Lansdowne Road.

As with almost every player, that defeat will somehow always stick in the craw. "I'll never forget that day. A nightmare. I got injured and I was just so disappointed. Terrible.

In his first year with Old Wesley, Miller broke into representative teams all over the place - the Irish under 21s, Leinster, the Ireland `A' side. But Miller's plan was always to move to Leicester and study physical education (which he had studied for a year in Waterford and for another year in:

Sheffield) at Loughborough University.

"That was the main reason, to combine college with rugby, and I'd always supported Leicester. I had family and rugby connections there, and I had my heart set on going there."

It wasn't easy. "I'd been playing for Leinster, and hopping across and back all the time between matches and training sessions. Basically I wasn't there until Christmas and I don't think they liked that, even though they didn't say anything.

Miller made more competitive appearances for the Irish A side (one) than Leicester (none). Looking back, it showed him the flipside of the coin after his meteoric first year.

It was, yeah. It gave me character in a way. I know what it's like to be disappointed, to be on the bench, or get injured and miss games, stuff like that. It hadn't happened so much in the first year. It definitely was a beneficial experience."

Always seeking to better himself Miller watched Dean Richards and learned. "He's the most capped number eight in the world. It's not like he takes me aside and sits me down for half an hour every day to tell me the ins and outs of the game. It's just the little things in training. I've learnt so much already and I'm still learning."

Ball retention after contact, body positions in mauls and rucks, lines of running in attack and defence, general reading of the game. Learning and absorbing, absorbing and learning all the time.

"I realise now, with every month that passes by, it was such a big decision, and I know it was the right one as well."

Nevertheless he considered leaving Leicester at the end of last season. Leinster seemed to offer more rugby in the immediate future, but hopes of a contract from the IRFU didn't materialise.

"That partly swayed me, but the big thing was Bob Dwyer (Leicester coach). I knew what he liked and I thought it would suit my game. I knew it would be a lot more organised. I went straight over there and had a chat with him, and basically I made my mind up within a month."

Neil Back's suspension and injuries to John Wells and Dean Richards gave Miller plenty of opportunities in the back row. There was the disappointment of missing out on the European Cup final last week, but consolation in Dwyer's assurances of a substitutes appearance, as well as a genuine regard for Wells and the mighty Deano.

Miller is a young man in a hurry, but he's also respectful. "Deano still has an awful lot to offer. He's lost a bit of speed but his vision and his reading of the game totally make up for that. I suppose the expansive game, in a year or two, mightn't suit him that much. But I'm happy to be under him as long as he's there, and I hope to keep learning from him."

It's instructive to hear Miller describe Brive's awesome victory as the completion of a "nightmare last three or four weeks for me".

This is, after all, a 21 year old who made his international debut against Italy and, despite going off injured, was retained and moved to his favoured birth of number eight against France.

By popular consent - and France's Jean Claude Skrela supplemented the popular view - Miller was Ireland's best player, but that was scant consolation ford the disappointing outcomes which preceded last week's European Cup final defeat to Brive.

"Some people said I played well against France. I thought I did okay, but I never realised it was such a step. You just don't have time to think. I showed a bit of inexperience in the French game. I thought I had things sussed really, playing in England. But I was reacting sometimes. I've learned a lot from that French game."

He regrets becoming a little "hot headed" at times, though it's in his nature. Relatively softly spoken, Miller is calm and focussed before games, but "aggressive" during them. Always has been.

His extra bulk, while not diminishing his speed, has given him more confidence in his tackling.

"It's still capable of getting a lot better, but I contend with the big boys now.

A highlight of his season was, playing for Leicester against Leinster in the European Cup at Lansdowne Road. Renew any old acquaintances in the rucks and mauls? "There was a bit of nitty gritty stuff on the ground alright. To be fair now, I didn't expect it but I gave as good as I got," hem says, matter of factly.

But there's been so many highlights that the season has gone by in a blur. That's the way he wants it. A rollercoaster, and preferably one that doesn't stop. Next up Wales. "We're no longer happy, playing with pride and passion, we need a big win."

This afternoon he faces the outstanding Scott Quinnell. "When he (Quinnell) went to (rugby) League, I thought I'd never get the chance to play him, but now I do have the chance and I'm relishing it. Can't wait."

This tiger can't get enough.