Heineken Cup Final head to head: Jamie Heaslip v Roger Wilson

One of the best number eights around and yet another forgotten man of Irish rugby will be battling for supremacy in the back row in Cardiff on Saturday.

By Conor Heneghan

After a few years of rapid development from a promising Leinster starlet who narrowly missed out on the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad to one of the best number eights in the world, Jamie Heaslip got stuck in something of a rut earlier this season.

For the first time in his career, injury began to take its toll, his form wasn’t what it might have been and during the Six Nations, he became involved in an unseemly row with Irish supporters on Twitter after reacting a little sensitively to criticism of their performance against Scotland.

Since then, however, Heaslip has turned things around and is back playing as well as ever, deservedly claiming the man of the match award against Toulouse in the Heineken Cup semi-final. He’s never been shy of the limelight, but his once prolific ramblings on Twitter have dried up and he’s doing his talking on the pitch instead.

In what is probably the strongest area of the Leinster and the Irish side, Heaslip has become a leader in the back row. His energy levels are incredible; he has a propensity for popping up with crucial tries and provides a viable option at lineout time.

His steal in the dying minutes to prevent Toulouse from getting over the line seemed to defy physics and was yet another big-game moment from someone who is definitely a big game player.

Forgotten man

While Heaslip was fast tracked from prodigious youth to Irish full international without much fuss, his opponent at the weekend, Roger Wilson, has done plenty of time with the Churchill Cup squad and been rewarded with only a solitary first team cap for his troubles.

Are you watching Declan Kidney? Roger Wilson's form has fuelled talk of an Ireland call-up

Like his compatriot James Downey, there has been a clamour for Wilson to be called into the Irish set-up on the basis of his form and Northampton’s run to the final, with former Irish international and Northampton colleague Neil Best doing a lot of the cheerleading and suggesting that Declan Kidney has an aversion to those who dare ply their trade outside of Ireland.

In fairness to Kidney, however, he’s hardly short of options in the area. As well as the established back row of O’Brien, David Wallace and Heaslip, Leinster duo Kevin McLaughlin and Shane Jennings, Munster’s Denis Leamy, Ulster’s Chris Henry and Connacht’s John Muldoon are all vying for a place in the squad, even though there is probably a small bit of truth in Best’s claims.

Northampton will look to Wilson to carry plenty of ball on Saturday and also to nullify the threat of Leinster’s ball carriers, most notably his opposite number Heaslip and Sean O’Brien. Like Downey, it’s a perfect audition for the World Cup later in the year, and at 29-years old, it's probably one of the last chances he’ll have to convince the Irish boss of his worth.