Revitalised Hurley on the march for Munster

DENIS HURLEY was 23 when plucked from virtual obscurity by then Munster coach Declan Kidney in the spring of 2008. He was named ahead of Shaun Payne at full-back for a Heineken Cup quarter-final away to Gloucester – the same day Kidney drafted Tomás O’Leary in at the expense of Peter Stringer.

Victory that day was followed by semi-final and final wins over Saracens and Toulouse and within a few weeks, and the two young men were gleefully running around the Millennium Stadium with their gold medals.

In the intervening two years, O’Leary has gone on to great things, highlighted by Ireland’s 2009 Grand Slam campaign triumph and selection for the Lions.