Relishing the challenge

NO matter what the sport, you often wonder how people who have been teammates on countless occasions are suddenly able to play against each other in a different competition.

This applies very much on Sunday, when it’s more or less a case of the Irish pack and half-backs of recent Triple Crown fame taking on the Leinster three-quarter line in the Heineken Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road.

With one or two interlopers such as Malcolm O’Kelly in the Leinster second-row, that’s very much how things stand; for instance Munster flanker David Wallace goes head to head with Keith Gleeson, probably his main challenger for the Ireland number seven shirt after a series of outstanding recent performances for Leinster.