Mealamu hoping to bury hatchet

ALL BLACK Keven Mealamu hopes next month’s visit to New Zealand by Brian O’Driscoll and Ireland will finally provide him with a sense of closure after his prominent part in the tackle on the Lions skipper last year.

Mealamu and Kiwi captain Tana Umaga were responsible for sidelining the Irish captain for six months after their joint tackle on the centre only minutes into the first Lions test in Christchurch.

The Samoan-born international claims to have little memory of the incident. It’s the aftermath of it that he wants to forget, describing the last 12 months as the most difficult period in his entire career.