Court primed for ‘ultimate honour’

TOM COURT and John Hayes may come from opposite ends of the globe but already they’ve a great deal in common.

Principally, they come from farming stock even if their properties in Bright View, Queensland, Australia, and Cappamore, Limerick, are many thousands of miles apart. They are also professional rugby players plying their trade in the front-row of the scrum and also happen to be two of the most imposing physical specimens imaginable.

Court weighs in at 19st 2 lbs and stands 6 ft 3 inches tall. Hayes is seven pounds heavier and an inch taller. Not much in it really but there certainly is a vast gulf where one other key statistic is concerned. Whereas Hayes trots out tomorrow for his 90th Irish cap, Court will be winning his first should he be called off the bench at any stage of the proceedings.