By Nick Purewal
Ireland wing Tommy Bowe has leapt to the defence of teammate Jared Payne after the Kiwi's Rugby World Cup form was savaged by former Ulster coach Matt Williams.
Ex-Ulster and Scotland boss Williams claimed Ireland have "huge issues" in midfield when analysing the 44-10 victory over Romania for Irish channel TV3.
Williams believes Ireland will struggle to reach the latter stages of the tournament with Payne at 13 - leading Bowe to stick up for his Ulster teammate.
Bowe branded Williams a "bad cop" pundit, insisting Ireland would take little notice of outside opinion.
"I was just chatting to one of the lads yesterday about how good it is to actually play alongside Jared," said Bowe.
"As a squad, we know what a talented player Jared is.
"He has a lot of time on the ball and he makes it easy for us wingers and people inside and outside him to play with because he's just so consistent.
"His communication is very good from a defensive point of view and he's probably one of the best passers of the ball in the squad.
"He has a bit of X-Factor about him when he gets the opportunity to put it on.
"He's been a key part of the squad and team over the last year or two."
Williams believes Ireland should promote Darren Cave to centre for Sunday's vital Pool D clash against Italy at London's Olympic Stadium.
Ireland will qualify for the quarter-finals with victory over the Azzurri and Williams is calling for changes.
"He's making really poor decisions: he's kicking the ball all the time and he's kicking very badly," said Williams of Payne.
"He's not making breaks. He's running across field."
Payne, who a New Zealand under-21 rep who joined Ulster from the Blues, is likely to be reunited with usual midfield partner Robbie Henshaw for Ireland's Italy clash.
Henshaw is fit again after hamstring trouble, with coach Joe Schmidt expected to restore his first-choice centre pairing.
Kiwi boss Schmidt has already accepted Henshaw and Payne form a "manufactured midfield" in his answer to the long-standing question of how to replace Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll.
Schmidt has found defensive ballast from shifting Henshaw from 13 to 12 and Payne from fullback to centre, and will in all probability continue to bank on the pairing.
AFP