Jim Gavin singles out ‘compact and composed’ defence

JIM Gavin quickly shot down comparisons between this current Dublin group and those from the glittering era of the 1970s.

David Hickey, the team doctor, would argue that this current assembly is a superior outfit to the one he played with under the watch of Kevin Heffernan and Tony Hanahoe.

But Gavin wasn’t biting when it was put to them that after a third title in five years the crop now are now more successful than their predecessors.