Hickie says he’s hale and hearty and ready to have a run at the French

A month ago, Denis Hickie had targeted Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Wales as his comeback match.

A month ago, Denis Hickie had targeted Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Wales as his comeback match.

Yesterday he was happy to report that he is ready, willing and able to take on the French at Lansdowne Road next Saturday.

Hickie broke a bone in his hand during Leinster’s Heineken European Cup tie with Edinburgh Reivers in Dublin and didn’t know the extent of the damage until after the match.

Following the injury, he brought off two try saving tackles which helped Leinster survive a traumatic last 20 minutes and ultimately allowed them save face with a 34-34 draw.

Those tackles were testimony to the fact that Hickie has well and truly put the bad days of poor form " maybe poor defensive form" behind him and they helped highlight the fact that he is now the complete article.

As he looks forward to facing France following an astonishingly quick recovery, Hickie acknowledges the fact that things have, indeed, changed for the better.

The man has been blessed with great speed and described that as "a huge advantage for a winger".

But wingers, as such, are no longer a single entity. "The game has changed a lot in the last couple of years, and thankfully wingers don’t have to stand out on the far reaches of the pitch getting cold while everyone else plays the game."

"I am excited about the developments in the game. It’s nice to know that nowadays you can, even as a winger, get far more involved in the game. It has really progressed to the point where both wingers and the full back are best described as the back three, each assigned with jobs to do and each allowed express themselves on the field of play.

"There are shifting trends in rugby around the world and it is no different in Ireland. We try to move the ball, throw it around a bit and I certainly get a big buzz from that. I think you do always have to look at where the strengths of the team are and play to that. If you don’t play to those strengths then you’re perhaps selling yourself a bit short. You wonder whether there was something more you could have done to win matches. But if you play according to plan, do everything possible to the best of your ability and lose, then it is easier to accept defeat."

The nature of his recent injury meant, of course, that he was not restricted in his training regime. "I suppose you always wonder about whether you are up to the pace of a game when you haven’t played for a few weeks but in some ways it can be a blessing in disguise. For instance, I was spared having lumps knocked off me in club games leading up to our first international with Italy. You never know, had I not been injured against Edinburgh I could have been subsequently. The way I look at it now is that it has to be positive. The injury was serious but not that serious. So, I missed one international. I didn’t like the fact that this happened but it’s all behind me now and I am looking forward to the rest of the campaign."

Hickie isn’t looking for sympathy nor does he expect the violins to be brought out to hail his bravery in playing on in pain for 30 minutes against Edinburgh.

"Quite honestly, I thought I had dislocated a finger. I certainly didn’t think it was broken. I would like to come out and say I just played on because I was so brave but I couldn’t say that because I simply didn’t realise the extent of the damage. It wasn’t too bad to start but it did get more painful as the minutes ticked by and I knew I was in trouble close to the end of the game."

Now he will put the injury well to the back of his mind when he runs out against France on Saturday. "I have been amazed at how quickly the injury has healed and it hasn’t caused me any problems this week."

Hickie has always spoken of being a player driven by confidence. In the past, when he didn’t have that, he didn’t play well. When he did, he played very well.

And, in the last 12 months, his confidence is at an all time high. Therefore, he is playing so well that he is now an automatic choice on the wing for Ireland.

"I don’t know what it is but there is no doubt that when coaches give players a bit of freedom to express themselves and certain things come off then you do feel better about yourself. You become more adventurous and daring and I suppose if people have pace in the first instance then it looks as if it is easier than it actually is."

France will look to wingers Philippe Bernat Salles and David Bory to traumatise the Irish defence on Saturday as much as Ireland will seek out Hickie at every opportunity.

But the St Mary’s man is no longer frightened of the opposition.

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