It’s not always the size of the dog in the fight — not even in rugby

THE impact of last Saturday’s defeat to England would still have been painful for the Irish players come Monday, writes Ronan O’Gara

In fact, they’d have been sorer Monday than Sunday, psychologically as much as physically.

The broadening consensus international rugby has grown into a test of physical survival is not something I am comfortable with. If I took the Lions tour to New Zealand a decade ago as a reference point, I couldn’t say the international game is more physical now than it was back then.