Fielding Munster’s Payne

THE hailstones hammered against the windows, the players shivered in their boots. It could hardly have been further removed from Cape Town, where Shaun Payne was born and spent much of his childhood.

He left five years ago to discover a new rugby life thousands of miles away. After four seasons in South Wales, he made his way to Ireland and, more specifically, to Munster, a team he knew well from personal experience.

Shaun’s paternal grandmother emigrated from Sligo and that is why he qualifies for an Irish passport and, accordingly, is eligible to play for Ireland.