Tipoki: Earls can match All Blacks great Cullen

RUA Tipoki has compared Munster and Ireland sensation, Keith Earls, to All Black great, Christian Cullen, saying more international exposure for the 21-year-old can take the Limerick man to greater heights.

The former New Zealand Maori captain has missed most of Munster’s Heineken Cup campaign through injury, but he’s delighted the progress Earls has made at outside centre this season, a position usually filled by a Tipoki since his arrival in Munster in 2007.

“Keith’s magic. He’s brilliant,” enthused Tipoki. “I love watching what he does when he gets his hands on the ball. He reminds me of a young Christian Cullen — he ghosts through the gaps without making it look hard.