Donncha must start against Dragons

WHEN France raced into a 40-point lead after 47 minutes at the Stade de France, and prepared to unleash their talented bench, it looked every inch a nightmare for the Irish.

Thankfully, it never materialised. With Ireland’s cause considerably helped by the contribution of replacements Donncha O’Callaghan and, to a lesser extent, Andrew Trimble, the transformation began.

O’Callaghan joined his Munster colleagues Paul O’Connell and Denis Leamy to cause the unlikeliest of turnarounds and even helped himself to his third international try.