Luck of the Irish for O’Sullivan’s men

Italy 17 Ireland 28

O'Sullivan and rival coach John Kirwan agree this will be the most competitive Six Nations Championship yet, and nothing so far has presented itself in rebuttal.

The sting in the tail for Ireland comes in the injuries suffered by Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy. Sleep hardly came easy to the Irish coach last night as he tossed and turned over the possible centre permutations for Scotland on Saturday any of which is unlikely to include the captain and his side-kick.