Ireland have unearthed a brand new pearl
Rice is ahead of his time and could be Paul McGrath’s heir
ON August 26 last, Declan Rice sat in the visitors dressing-room in St James’ Park and felt as low as a serpent’s belly. West Ham were a goal down to Newcastle United at half-time and manager Slaven Bilic had just hooked the 18-year-old rookie defender, who wouldn’t start his next Premier League game until early December.
‘That day was tough for me. It was only my second start in the Premier League,’ recalled Rice after Saturday’s game.
‘I gave the ball away a lot and got pulled off. I’ve come on leaps and bounds since then. It only feels like yesterday to be honest, but I’ve been delighted with how the season went after that.’
Timing is everything in football and who knows where Ireland might be headed if Bilic had decided to stick with Rice in the first team rather than reel him in. Martin O’Neill may well have moved on Rice earlier than he did and the end game to World Cup qualifiers, and those pesky playoffs, could have worked out differently.
Might SS Ireland even be sailing for Russia? Perhaps. In three senior games for Ireland, Rice has been the best player each time. That is an extraordinary return.
What makes it even more exceptional is the age of the player, 19, and his versatility — he has played on the left of a three-man defence, and also as a holding midfielder of four players and of five.
That’s three different challenges, and he has risen to them all. Having covered Irish international football since 1984, it’s hard to recall a similar impact by any newcomer.
Prior to that, Johnny Giles famously scored the winner against Sweden on his debut in 1959 and Liam Brady ran the Russians ragged at ‘Dalyer’ in ’74.
But in the context of the last 35 years or so, what Rice has done, and is doing, is exceptional.
He has the potential to become to the team what Paul McGrath was in his prime, a class act in either midfield or central defence.
He is also nailed on to become a future captain, as predicted by John O’Shea, who left the stage after 118 appearances on Saturday night, 18 of them as skipper.
You might expect a rookie like Rice to say ‘aw shucks’ at such a prophecy but he takes it in his stride.
‘John’s been at the top of the game and played with some of the very best players, so to hear that from him is nice. I had a joke with him about it. Maybe one day I do see myself as a future captain because I have got it within me to tell people what to do and order them around,’ he said.
So how come he has taken to international football so smoothly?
‘I think it’s because I’ve been around men’s football at club level for a while now. I’m playing around top players, trying to pick their brains, and I’m able to take so much from them individually.
‘I watch a lot of football as well and study the game, different players and teams. Football is an easy game if you’ve got a picture in your head. You can play one and twotouch then.’
Rice looks and talks like a 10year veteran and is ahead of his time with Ireland, as was once said about 1966 World Cup winner Martin Peters.
At 19, McGrath wasn’t even playing in the League of Ireland; O’Shea, precocious teenage talent that he was, didn’t make his first senior start until he was 20, and had turned 21 for his second.
Roy Keane, who made his Irish debut at 19, admitted it took him over 20 games to find his feet. In contrast, Rice is calling the shots after just three and to think he won’t be 20 until January next.
He was in leadership mode on Saturday as Ireland rallied from a difficult position to beat the USA and record their first win in five games.
For the late winner from Alan Judge, it was Rice who popped up to support Seamus Coleman and then play the right pass for James McClean to surge into the box with the visitors looking exposed.
It was the sort of ball a Keane, McGrath or Ronnie Whelan, would have played as they grew into international football and O’Neill, who knows a decent midfielder when he sees one, know he has a nugget in his hands.
‘Declan was outstanding, in every aspect, in every phase. Getting close to players, trying to dispossess players when the opposition had the ball. His use of the ball was excellent, epitomised by that pass that he made to McClean.
‘He’s played some delightful balls. He got it under control quite quickly, played lovely balls, 10yard passes, 15-yard passes, 20yard passes to people. I couldn’t speak more highly of him,’ he said.
Already, O’Neill will have Rice on his team sheet for the Nations League opener against Wales on September 6, but whether that’s
as a centre-back or midfielder remains to be seen.
‘I don’t think he has a chosen position at this minute,’ said O’Neill.
‘And I don’t think it’s any bad thing for one so young to get experience of playing in a number of positions, one for his club and two for us.
‘While the position might be chosen by his club, I do think it will probably be a matter of where we think we can play him and he has got no objection to that.’
Rice remains easy going about where he plays. ‘I’ve been in midfield and at the back, so it’s up to the manager where he plays me, he added. ‘Getting international football under my belt is the main thing.
‘France was frustrating because I couldn’t really show what I could do. (Kylian) Mbappé is the best player I have come up against, but on Saturday night I could get on the ball and get us playing.’
IRELAND: Doyle; K Long, O’Shea (Lenihan 33), Duffy (Stevens 77); Coleman, Hendrick (Arter 82), O’Dowda (Judge 88), Rice, McClean; Burke (Horgan 58), Walters.
USA: Hamid; Yedlin (Moore 70), Carter-Vickers (Parker 61), Maizga, Villafana; Trapp; Rubin (De La Torre 77), McKennie (Corona 81), Adams, Weah; Wood (Sargent 70).
Referee: A Dallas (Scotland).