D’Arcy ready for Bath plunge

HE may still be only 25, but Gordon D’Arcy has already had more comebacks than Barbara Streisand and the Leinster centre’s latest trek towards rugby’s summit takes a serious step up in the Heineken Cup opener at home to Bath.

The highs and lows of D’Arcy’s career have been minutely documented, especially the period between winning his first international cap in the 1999 World Cup against Romania and the next time he pulled on an Irish senior jersey three years later.

Undoubtedly the Clongowes graduate has known some hard times but even by his standards the last year and a half has been hard to swallow.