Irish bruises worn as badge of honour

IRELAND’S heroic U21 players took their bruised bodies to a health club in Glasgow yesterday for a brief respite after the pounding of the last couple of weeks.

Yet, the demands of five games in 20 days seems a small price to pay for the glory of winning their way to the final of the IRB Under-21 World Championship, a feat hailed in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Few expected Ireland, seeded seven, to make it to the semi-finals. Nobody, not least Australians, believed it possible for them to go even further.