Best to come from reprieved Rory

TUESDAY lunchtime in the opulent Killiney Castle Hotel, side by side they ambled into the press conference, one grin wider than the other.

Both had just dodged a bullet, and both knew it.

Having replaced the injured Jerry Flannery for last autumn’s November internationals, Rory Best had held onto the number 2 jersey on the Irish team to face Wales in Cardiff on Sunday. That’s the same Jerry Flannery, despite not having yet played a full match following his return from that injury, who had just edged out his Munster team-mate Frankie Sheehan for the spot on the bench.