Strange day, strange performance by Ireland last Saturday.

Whisper it. There’s something special brewing in Irish rugby

The Irish jersey hasn’t been a good place to be in 2013.

It’s been an eventful week, to say the least. The Wednesday before last was spent at Stade de France, preparing for Saturday’s Parisian derby. It was a lovely, sunny, wintry day in Paris, kicking balls for two hours on the beautiful Stade de France turf ahead of the meeting with Stade Francais. And then we were heading to Charles de Gaulle airport for the flight home to my testimonial dinner.

The Irish are muscling in on French rugby conversation again. Ulster walloping Montpellier at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir last Saturday has catapulted Mark Anscombe’s squad into talk about eventual Heineken Cup winners.

Talking to Jonny Sexton the other day, we started swapping secrets about psychological baggage from Leinster clashes with Munster.

HERE’S a news flash from France on attitudes to the Heineken Cup — it doesn’t move the discussion dial here. And it is seldom lunchtime chat either for the players with clubs who kick off the road to Cardiff this weekend.

IN the days before last year’s Heineken Cup quarter-final for Munster against Harlequins, I was asked about retirement by the press. I said at the time if anyone was enjoying their career as much as I was, why would they want to walk away from it?

The complexities of Cork men remain the same, it’s just the venues that change.

I kind of lost my appetite for the Lions on Wednesday morning, which is strange. There’s sentiment and romance.