Long wait over for fit-again Wallace

DAVID WALLACE isn’t the kind of person to bear grudges and so he refuses to look back upon his omission from Ireland’s 2003 World Cup squad with any sign of undue angst.

It was Eddie O’Sullivan’s decision at the time and Wallace accepted it gracefully, realising that the coach was acting in what he perceived to be the best interests of the team. Fast forward four years the coach now believes Wallace has become “a different player and a world-class number 7”.

“That certainly was a low point in my career because I was also within sniffing distance of my place in 1999 as well,’’ he says. “But I wouldn’t agree that it was necessarily the lowest point of all. I’m here now and what happened in the past is immaterial.