Loyal servant Easterby upbeat ahead of ‘toughest test’ France

HE was born in the Yorkshire town of Harrogate, is captain of Welsh club Llanelli and he has played almost all of his rugby across the water.

All that said, Ireland have had few more loyal servants than the 32-year-old Simon Easterby, who qualifies to represent Ireland because of a Dublin mother, and is set to win his 61st cap against France tomorrow night.

Faced by a battery of cameras and tape recorders, he admitted “we have to perform better than we have so far in this World Cup against France. We know we’re capable of beating them and we’re confident of doing so.”