Leamy ready to answer Ireland’s call

THE irony isn’t lost on the quietly spoken 23-year-old from Cashel. As he came up through the ranks at Rockwell College and later at UCC, Denis Leamy was lost in admiration of Anthony Foley’s qualities.

He appreciated them all the more when he became his Munster and Ireland teammate and readily admits to having learned a huge amount from the great Shannon man.

Therefore one suspects he is almost embarrassed at taking Foley’s place at No 8 in the side to meet New Zealand at Lansdowne Road tomorrow - not that it will prevent him from turning in the kind of performance that left Eddie O’Sullivan with little option but to find a place for him in the team.