Three gardaí were receiving such a vicious beating from associates of a Dublin criminal gang that a detective was forced to extricate them at gunpoint and arrest their assailants, the High Court has heard.

GALWEGIANS paraded most of their big guns at Thomond Park on Saturday. They had Eric Elwood back in regal form at outhalf and as many as six members of the Connacht pack up front — and they needed them all and then some to eke out a four-point AIB League victory over Shannon.