ENGLAND’S LOSS WILL BE IRELAND’S GAIN

BY THE time Will Addison made his first underage international start, he found himself on the same pitch as Luke McGrath, Niall Scannell, Jack Conan and Tadhg Beirne.

Yesterday, the 26-year-old shared the same team plane with the aforementioned quartet as the Ireland squad flew from Dublin to Chicago.

It has been quite the journey for Addison in the six years since his England U-20s side ended Ireland’s Grand Slam dream to seal back-toback Six Nations titles.

Speak to any Sale supporter and they will tell you that Addison should have been capped by England at senior level a long time before his head was turned by the IRFU.

Gutted

Sale were gutted to lose a player of such quality, who since making his debut for them in 2011 went on to play more than 100 times and just last season was named club captain.

For the then 25-year-old, who had become a part of the furniture, that was a huge deal, but so too was playing international rugby.

Eddie Jones clearly didn’t fancy Addison and England’s loss will undoubtedly be Ireland’s gain.

Since being alerted to the fact that the versatile back is Irish-qualified through his mother, who hails from Enniskillen, Joe Schmidt has been eager to get Addison involved.

It was perhaps no coincidence that back in June, he was holidaying in Melbourne, visiting his sister, at the same time Ireland were in town.

Schmidt wasted little time in inviting Addison into training and the few days that he spent in camp during the summer will have been invaluable in terms of getting him up to speed for the week ahead.

Addison has been a revelation since joining Ulster. He has hit the ground running in Belfast and has shown exactly why Schmidt is such a big fan.

The 26-year-old can play all across the back-line and has regularly lined out at centre, full-back and on the wing throughout his career.

That versatility has already been seen in Ulster colours and Addison even slotted in at out-half during the Champions Cup win over Leicester earlier this month.

When it comes to picking a World Cup squad, being able to play and perform at such a high level in a number of positions is a massive plus in Schmidt’s eyes.

It will be interesting to see where the Ireland head coach sees Addison at his most effective, but the player sees outside centre as his best position.

Filling the boots of Jared Payne at Ulster was an unenviable task, yet Addison has already made a good fist of it. Don’t be surprised to see him make a similar impression in the international set-up.

This week will provide the Cumbrian with an ideal opportunity to stake his claim for the month ahead as well as the World Cup.

Addison will almost certainly make his Ireland debut against Italy at Solider Field this weekend and if he performs as well as he has been doing for Ulster, Schmidt will be on to another winner.

Addison lit up the Kingspan Stadium last Friday night with the type of searing break that we have already come to expect despite him being in the country just a few months.

His lines of running in the 13 channel have at times been devastating. And it’s not just in the Guinness PRO14 that he has been doing it in either.

On the European stage, Leicester and Racing saw how effective Addison can be with ball in hand and he will be desperate to carry that form into the green jersey.

Of the three English-born players (Addison, Billy Burns and Mike Haley), who are eligible to play for Ireland, and were brought in by Ulster and Munster last summer, Addison has had the greatest impact thus far.

All three will still harbour realistic ambitions of making the plane to Japan next year, but Addison could yet play a key role at the World Cup.

With everyone fit and firing, it is difficult to see him dislodging Rob Kearney at full-back or any of the first-choice centres, yet there would be a lot of value in having someone of Addison’s versatility on the bench.

Threat

“He’s a constant threat with ball in hand, he’s a silky runner,” Dwayne Peel, Ulster’s backs and attack coach, said of Addison.

“I played with him when he was a young guy and you could see he had some good qualities, and I was really keen to get him here because I knew he could add to our squad.

“Speaking from personal experience and from what I’ve seen, I think he’s doing an excellent job – he looks a classy footballer to me. I don’t think we’ve seen half of what he can do yet.”

It is a case of so far so good for Addison, with a promise of much more to come for club and country.

This week will be a step up from anything he has faced before in his career but nevertheless, Addison looks primed and ready to make his mark for his adopted country.