Ronan wants perfect 10

RUTHLESS RONAN? Surely not. Difficult to envisage? We’re sitting in a quiet corner of Melbourne’s Holiday Inn, headquarters of the Irish team for the past two weeks ahead of tomorrow’s quarter-final with France, discussing the intense rivalry between himself and David Humphreys.

And it was when I suggested it was the friendship between the pair that makes the situation even more of a problem his face turned cold.

“I don’t think that’s an issue”, he began. “Professional rugby is a ruthless business. All of us would like to start a game.