Tommy Martin: Ireland prepare to duel with the Dark Lord Rassie

The phrase ‘7-1 split’ sounds like something you’d pull off to win a hand of Texas Hold ‘Em, some lowdown, dirty move that would get you kicked out of the lousiest saloon bar.

DARK LORD: Rassie Erasmus ahead of South Africa's match against Ireland. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag

Unless you are a rugby nerd, you probably don’t know what David Nucifora looks like, and unless you are a rugby nerd journalist you have probably never even heard him speak.

As the IRFU’s performance director, he’s the man who runs Irish rugby – the actual rugby bits, as opposed to the committee alickadooery in the background. He emerges like Punxsutawney Phil once a year for a press conference in which he explains what he has been up to, before swiftly returning to obscurity.