Ireland centre Jared Payne came in for quite a bit of criticism from George Hook in the immediate aftermath of Ireland's loss to Wales. Despite what we though were his two best performances for Ireland, one of the points in Hook's criticism appeared to be that Jared Payne was not from Ireland.
The "second rate foreign player" has been outstanding for Ulster from fullback in his time in the island, and appears to be finding his feet in Joe Schmidt's Ireland team. Payne it seems, doesn't pay any attention to what Hook is saying.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I didn't hear it all. I haven't really watched any of that sort of thing.
Payne has had to give up a lot to make the move to Belfast, leaving his life, his family and friends when David Humphries came calling with Ulster. It's quite a commitment.
It's a fairly, big one, isn't it? You only get to see your parents four weeks out of the year.
Payne isn't the first 'foreign' player to play for Ireland, and he certainly won't be the last, but he's the only one in the 23 at the moment, and happens to be attempting to fill the biggest boots in the history of Irish rugby.
