Fortune smiling on Irish

WITH just four days to go before the first Test in Bloemfontein, things appear to be getting better and better from an Irish perspective.

If you're from this part of the world, though, fortune certainly appears to be working in reverse.

Having lost six players to injury over the past two weeks, South African coach Jake White was probably pretty confident his luck couldn't get any worse. But yesterday's loss of star centre De Wet Barry for six weeks with an ankle injury dispelled that theory. He will, no doubt, be keeping every part of his anatomy crossed over the next few days to ensure no further mishaps to his selected 22.