'One of the best': Why Paddy Jackson is in Irish leadership group
Former Wallabies scrum-half Nick Phipps has outlined the qualities he sees in London Irish having Paddy Jackson as part of the Gallagher Premiership club’s leadership group for the second successive season. Last month’s confirmation by the Exiles that Jackson was helping out Phipps and skipper Matt Rogerson in guiding the club this season sparked a Twitter storm with unhappy critics dragging up the Irishman’s past as a reason for him not to be in a position of authority.
The ex-Ulster out-half Jackson was sacked by the IRFU in April 2018 even though he had been found not guilty the previous month at a high profile rape trial in Belfast. Jackson soon went to France to rebuild his career, spending a season at Perpignan before joining London Irish on their return to the Premiership for the 2019/20 season.
He has since struck up an encouraging rapport with fellow half-back Phipps and while social media seems determined to repeatedly bring up Jackson’s past, London Irish have a different impression of the player whose influence in the dressing room and around the club is strong.
Phipps regularly accompanies Jackson on the morning drive to the Irish club’s Hazelwood training ground and he explained to RugbyPass the dynamic of the leadership group the pair head along with captain Rogerson. “I come in with Paddy probably a couple of times a week and it’s good for us, also as a nine and ten to just get a lot of stuff out and chew the fat, understand what we are talking about so we are on the same page.
“We think alike in a lot of moments around the game and in the club and stuff like that so I am quite lucky to be working with such a great player, and I also work a lot with Matt. That is the nice thing about having a small leadership group. I have been in leadership groups before where it is so big you don’t really get time to catch up with people.
#Ibelieveher and ‘Paddy Jackson’ have been trending on Twitter in Ireland since the latest London Irish leadership group announcement was made this weekhttps://t.co/rFUK6Hoya4
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 9, 2021
“Everything is just diluted and never led with action words whereas the three of us can just walk down the corridor and quickly talk some rubbish and then leave it five minutes later. I feel that is working for us really well and there is a lot of yin and yang about as well in us three. Matt is a very stern northerner from up near Manchester and me and Paddy are just cheeky little nines and tens running around, sort of annoying everyone. It’s a great dynamic and between the three of us and we all have the confidence of everyone else in the group to get better.
“Often it is hard being a leader because you are going to rub some people the wrong way in the way that you are just trying to make the club and players better. I am still learning every day about leadership and how to manage that but also how to separate that from your own game. I’m quite lucky to have those two blokes there in the leadership group with me.”
Asked to give an insight into how he and Jackson bounce off each other as a half-back combination, Phipps added: “It has been great. I sort of came late in my first year and Paddy had been injured so I didn’t get a chance to play with him for a fair while but I got a lot of time with him off the field (during the lockdown) and I have loved sort of growing that relationship which has then worked really well for us on the field.
“He is a funny little man. We talk so quickly on the field and in such short sentences but we are still able to convey exactly what we mean and I feel like in the heat of battle if things are going wrong or things are going really well we are bouncing off each other quite well. I have played with some great tens in my day and Paddy is certainly one of the best I have played with. As a group, we are really lucky to have him in the director’s chair at the moment running around and as with all the nines, we’re lucky to work with such a great player.”
How difficult, though, was it for Aussie to initially understand the distinctive Northern Irish accent that Jackson has. “It definitely took me a while. I have managed to work out his accent. (Declan) Kidney, I still don’t have any idea. I just nod and smile and it seems to have gotten me by so far.”
Beaten narrowly by Northampton last Saturday, London Irish are winless three games into the new Premiership campaign after an opening weekend defeat at Worcester and then a home draw with Sale. They are now preparing to host early leaders Leicester and Phipps reported that things turned feisty on the training ground on Tuesday morning with plenty of stern words said. The exact words, though, the scrum-half wouldn’t reveal.
“Is RugbyPass PG? It’s just little moments, non-negotiables, work rate, getting off the ground, stuff like that. Sometimes players see themselves playing different moments in different lights and it is important as a group we are all on the same page about what we want. I will keep a few stern words private but it has been good. When people are on different pages it is good to come to a head at a stage to find a way to nut it out. That has been a few moments this week and it has been great.
“It’s important to strike that balance between public and private words and I feel like we have done that really well this week and people have responded. We have just finished training and people have really responded this week – we have had a great session. Every now and then you need a little kick in the bum to get going, don’t you? The maturity of the group is at a stage where we need to be ready to go and we have struck the right balance this week.”
Jackson hasn't been capped by Ireland since his high profile court case in 2018 #SixNations #PremRugbyhttps://t.co/weVTjyrJoJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 3, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments