Opportunity knocks for Kearney

ROBERT KEARNEY is the perfect example of someone who takes an opportunity with both hands, knowing full well another chance may be a long time coming. He managed to do just that at Croke Park last weekend on his Six Nations debut, but he is no stranger to such heart-stopping scenarios.

As a fresh-faced 19-year-old, having just absorbed his Leaving Certificate results, Leinster coach Michael Cheika plunged him into the deep end in a pre-season friendly with Overmach Parma in Naas. A hat-trick of tries from the Louth man against the Italians lifted the gloom on a drab affair and the performance was his passport to the professional ranks.

However there have been set backs, injuries, dips in form and only this week will he will claim his first Six Nations start, away to France on Saturday.