JARED PAYNE KNOWS a little something about playing centre for Ireland and he believes Ulster’s James Hume is on the right track to more international recognition if he keeps doing what he’s doing.

Hume has been on fire since the November Test series, playing a central role in helping Ulster to a first win at the RDS Arena since 2013 and then dazzling in their Heineken Champions Cup pool games against Clermont and Northampton Saints.

Provincial team-mate Mike Lowry (220) is the only player from any team to have made more metres in the opening two European games than Hume (214), with the centre third in defenders beaten (eight) and leading the way with five offloads, such has been his influence.

However, despite putting together a string of impressive outings in a provincial capacity, to date he only has one Ireland cap to his name – in the 71-10 thrashing of the USA over the summer – and has had to play a supporting role to Garry Ringrose thus far in his trips down to Carton House.

But Payne, capped 20 times by Ireland and a one-time Lions tourist in 2017, thinks Hume’s form cannot be ignored for much longer if he continues to perform at such a high level for Ulster.

“Back in my day, if James was playing the way he is then he’d probably be in the Ireland team, but Ireland are very lucky with the depth they have in that position, the quality they’ve got there,” believes Ulster’s defence coach.

“For James, that consistency of performance, if he keeps doing what he’s doing and keeps putting his best foot forward then it’ll be pretty hard for Ireland to be ignoring that. In these big games, keep doing what he’s doing and he’s really showing up.

“I don’t pick the Ireland team but, for me, if he keeps consistently doing what he’s doing through this block of games then it’s going to be pretty hard to ignore him.

“The form he’s in is class. He’s good on both sides of the ball. He’s very good in defence and very good in attack. He’s a complete player at the moment. He knows he has some small issues that he needs to iron out, but everyone does.”

Aiding in Hume’s rise has been the role that centre partner Stuart McCloskey has played, the ‘Bangor Bulldozer’ commanding plenty of attention due to his abrasive ball-carrying style, which in turn allows Hume to flourish in the space created elsewhere.

In that regard, Ulster will hope that McCloskey’s injury sustained in Friday’s win over Northampton is not serious, although it is understood he will not be available for the St Stephen’s Day clash with Connacht at Kingspan Stadium.

While Stewart Moore picked up the mantle well after McCloskey’s departure, Ulster’s attack was noticeably less sharp without the Ireland centre, and Payne admits that having a reliable midfield pairing to fall back on is beneficial for both the team and players.

“Things happen quickly out there in a game of rugby, on both sides of the ball, so if you develop trust and a good connection with the guy you’re playing beside then it helps hugely, because it’s a tough place out there. Trust and connection is massive,” adds Payne.

Those two are working well together but you’ve got to give a lot of credit to Stew Moore too, on the weekend he picked up the bat pretty seamlessly with one or two things. There’s a group that are working really hard behind the scenes and it’s nice to see it coming through on the pitch.”

With Moore set to get a chance to stake his claim over the next few weeks, then, others will too as Ulster are set to rotate their playing resources over their three inter-provincial clashes both in line with the IRFU’s player management scheme and to keep their squad fresh during a hectic schedule.

“There’s always got to be a plan around that stuff. It’s like anything this time of year, there are guys rested and rotated and there will be a good plan around that,” reveals Payne.

“It means guys will get opportunities at times and it’s going to challenge those guys to step in and hopefully put their hands up and take those opportunities and make the most of them. We all know that, at this time of year, there’ll be chops and changes, it’s how it is.”