Resilience was The Bull’s hallmark

WHEN Shane Williams breached the Australian defence for one last international try deep into added time in his international swansong at the Millennium Stadium recently, you felt that justice had been served. Wingers crave attention.

On the other hand, prop forwards tend to be a different breed altogether.

When John Hayes became the first Irish player to accumulate 100 caps against England in Twickenham in February 2010, the attention in the build-up nearly killed him. In many ways he was quite happy the game was away from home, as the media spotlight would have been unbearable for the reserved Cappamore legend had it been in Dublin.