‘Good time to turn over Kiwis’

WITH a long, hard and successful season already behind them, Triple Crown won, Heineken Cup and Celtic League trophies resting in Munster and Ulster, respectively, summer beckoning, the Irish senior rugby squad members could well be forgiven for thinking — ‘to hell with this, a tour to New Zealand in the middle of their winter?

Two brutal tests against a team we’ve never beaten, then travel another few thousand miles to the arse end of Australia to play another tough test against a team that has a lot to prove? I’m outa here!’

“You could look at it that way,” Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll agrees: “You could alternatively look at it that we’ve managed to win a huge amount, why not push ourselves that one step further, go and do that one thing no Irish team has ever done in New Zealand before?