BUCKLE up. Hold on to your seat. Take a deep breath and get ready for an emotional white-knuckle ride that should come with a health warning.

HAVING trained with the Grand Slam squad over an eight week period, Alan Quinlan had a bird’s eye view of the team dynamics, and how they went from being simply colleagues to close friends in a short space of time.

ALL roads lead to Thomond Park on Saturday for the “Battle of Ireland” between the two top provinces, Munster and Leinster, involving most of Ireland’s Grand Slam heroes.

AS Leinster prepare for the Battle of Ireland on Saturday, Brian O’Driscoll has suspended cordial relations with his Triple Crown winning Munster colleagues.