How the hard hits will hurt world rugby

Earlier in this year this column spoke to Mickey Ned O’Sullivan, former Kerry captain and manager, ahead of the marriage referendum. He was insightful and passionate, articulate and convincing: himself, in other words.

Given his coaching background included stints with the South African rugby team, and Harlequins in England, I thought it might be worth a chat about the recent Rugby World Cup.

The Kenmare man wasn’t surprised by the physical battles in the tournament. Back in 2005, when O’Sullivan was running the Springboks through their paces, South African management told O’Sullivan that rugby was going to become a game of power, strength and size, and they believed that such a direction would favour them.