A third of the Irish team to meet New Zealand may be new caps but, allowing for injuries, arguably the biggest surprise of the selection announced last Sunday week was the name of Eddie Halvey. No-one, indeed, was more surprised than Halvey himself. Ear to the radio? Not likely. So much so that by the time he heard the news it was 5.30.

"I didn't think I was going to get it. I was shocked. I came back to where I live and the two lads I live with (Eddie and Austin Henshaw) said `congratulations.' I said `about what?"

This, after all, from a 27-year-old, richly talented footballer who has been enjoying a renaissance this season. But talent, in a curious way, can sometimes work against you and one of the more entertaining aspects of Pat Whelan's team announcements is that they come with a certain candidness.

Hence, in explaining Halvey's inclusion ahead of David Erskine, who had endured longer and thus played better on the Development tour, and had seemed in pole position during each training session, the Irish manager described the restored number six as "the enigma of Irish rugby."

"I saw that, yeah," laughs Halvey, a touch sheepishly. "He's probably right there. I suppose because of the type of game I play. I suppose I do things differently at the best of times." Halvey is not your orthodox blind-side flanker, or even open-side flanker. More of an all-round footballing backrower, who loves to take the ball on, or support the ball carrier, switch the point of attack or score tries.

In full flight, he's quite a sight - perhaps the best of his type in Irish rugby over the last number of years, Added to this is a real line-out presence, often used at the front of the opposition throw or the tail (or even the middle) of his own team's throw. Big, strong and athletic, he seems made for the new game, for the Ashton way.

However, whereas Shannon have utilised and seen these talents to the full, and to some degree Munster have, too (especially with Niall O'Donovan's elevation this season), Ireland rarely has. Thus, Whelan might also have been referring to an unfulfilled talent which has, after all, merely realised six caps by the age of 27. He should have won more and he knows it. "I've let myself down for a long time," Halvey admits candidly.

In what way? "Not working hard. Not putting the effort in. And this year I've shown that I have actually done the work."

Injured for the 1996 campaign, out of the reckoning last season, Halvey went to New Zealand on the Irish Development tour quietly determined to rectify all that, before suffering a bacterial ulcer in the immediate aftermath of the tour opener against Northland and spending 24 hours in an Auckland hospital before returning home.

"That was very disappointing when that cropped up. I wasn't even drinking. I was off the drink before I went out there. I was really going to have a good cut off it. The ulcer arrived. I then thought I was finished. I remember thinking I had a great deal of work to do if I was going to get contracted next year."

Advised to take three weeks off, he limited his respite to 10 days and improved his fitness level to like never before. At the start of this season he vowed "I was going to get back into the Irish team. Well, I was going to start by playing well for Munster, and see what else followed. But it was still a big shock when I was picked."

In the past, Halvey has not been so readily praised for his defence, a point Whelan again frankly spoke of when revealing that the Irish selectors had been impressed by his improved tackling this season. Quid pro quo, it wasn't always so impressive?

"Defence is a frame of mind as much anything else. If you're not fit, you have notions that you're not going to do that job. And if you get your body in some condition to do that, your brain takes over. It's all about attitude, your tackling is."

The proof of the pudding was Munster's defeat of Harlequins. Halvey came off comforted in the knowledge that "they threw everything at us." More tackling can be anticipated this Saturday. "They are the best team in the world but as rugby goes it's about who's up for it on the day. That's about attitude as well."

It seems a tad unfair to say Halvey's age and official status of "enigma" means he is now drinking at the last-chance saloon in international terms. But he concedes: "This is make or break for me. I'm not saying I'm going to be discarded if I don't play well on Saturday but at the moment I don't care who I play against. I'm not afraid of who I play against. At the moment my frame of mind is right."

This despite it being a bad year for Halvey, whose mother passed away in August after a protracted battle with cancer. "I suppose I've taken everything in my stride. You can't lie down and die, you know. I still have a future in rugby, so."

Not that he's totally enamoured with the life of a professional, describing it as "tedious" at times, primarily the triple sessions on Mondays and thereafter passing the time between sessions. But he's happy in Limerick, and, after an horrendous spell with Saracens, has no designs on another crack across channel. "I don't think I could ever could move again. I love living in Limerick. It's where I want to settle down really."

It's taken a while, but it seems that Eddie is happier and more content in himself than before. He knows what he wants and, to his own surprise, has it in his sights again. Even his critics would find it hard to dislike such a disarming, engaging character. And he's such a talent it would be a shame if it wasn't realised at last.