Interview with Eoin Reddan: Johnny Wattersontalks to a man likely to be a key figure not only for Wasps next Sunday but also for Ireland in the next few months.

Two years on and Eoin Reddan commands the number-nine shirt at Wasps with a confidence that would have beggared belief on leaving Munster. When the scrumhalf moved to London at the beginning of the 2005-2006 season, Matt Dawson of England and Lions fame stood in his way. While Dawson was nearing the end of a luminous career, the changing of the guard was swift.

That hurdle having been negotiated with the quick passing and natural pace for which he is noted, Reddan is sure to be confronted with other obstacles on Sunday when Wasps meet Leicester at Twickenham in the Heineken European Cup final.

But a sub-plot of the larger drama will be his face-to-face meeting with Leicester's stand-in scrumhalf, Frank Murphy. The friends go back to Munster, where they spent two seasons before walking separate paths. The recent injury to the England number nine Harry Ellis threw Murphy into the limelight last week against Gloucester in the Premiership league final and now pits him against Reddan in the biggest club tournament of the year.

"No, I've never played against Frankie in a serious competition," says Reddan.

"We played in the AIL and trained with each other for two years. But I'm delighted for him. He got his chance and took it last week against Gloucester. I think I know him well enough to be able to say that I'm happy for him."

A natural reaction of any opposition would be to focus on an area where they feel they might gain a marginal advantage. Murphy's late and unexpected arrival for the lauded Ellis could be reasonably seen as such a point of purchase for Wasps.

"We haven't focused on it," says Reddan. "We've focused on how to beat them as a whole and they didn't seem to suffer last week (with Murphy) when they beat Gloucester. This late in the season, teams don't miss out. Guys who step up have always done the job and done it well."

Reddan has been registering on Eddie O'Sullivan's radar as strongly as on that of the Wasps coach, Ian McGeechan, and has been rewarded with a senior cap. But having missed Ireland's 2006 summer tour to Australia and New Zealand to undergo an operation on a hernia that had hampered him in the latter part of last season, he made a late start to 2006-2007 - despite which he retained his place in the Ireland squad and cemented his place with Wasps.

His career graph has been subsequently going in the right direction but Wasps go into this match generally perceived as underdogs. A big performance could launch Reddan into a busy international summer.

"Sure I watched the Leicester game (versus Gloucester) last week in terms of analysis," says Reddan.

"Gloucester missed a lot of tackles and made it easy for them, I think.

"We would hope to put them under more pressure. We love these sort of games. You can feel the tension, feel the atmosphere, feel that this is a big game and fellas live for that.

"But I feel whoever defends best will win. Both sides have big ball carriers. Discipline must be good and we need to keep the penalties and turnovers down. I think we can match and beat them in those areas and that will win the match."

O'Sullivan has always been honest with Reddan; even at the end of last season, when that problematic hernia forced him to play in a way that did not come naturally, the national coach continued to make encouraging noises.

"I played eight games at the end of last season and played in a way I wouldn't normally play. Now I'm playing my own way," he says.

"That means not always passing the ball and maybe keeping opponents honest as well as making decisions on the pitch as I see them.

"I mean, absolutely, Leicester are going into this final as favourites and they have beaten us already this season. But that doesn't faze us."

What may haunt Wasps going into Sunday has been their default form in the league, which has been erratic even while their European form has been excellent.

They have managed to keep the two separate and keep the poor lineouts, defensive lapses and occasional indiscipline for the domestic competition. The coming and going of international players may have played a part. But now in the endgame, there is quiet defiance.

"Look at Castres away, Castres at home. Look at Perpignan away," says Reddan in a matter-of-fact reference to his team's capabilities. "When people wrote us off before, we have been able to win."