Smal boost for Buckley

HE MAY be approaching his 30th birthday and struggling to get game time for his province, but Tony Buckley can be one of the world’s best prop forwards, according to Ireland forwards coach Gert Smal.

Opinions on the Munster giant vary as wildly as some of his performances but after Buckley’s powerful 20 minutes of action at Twickenham, Smal is confident he now has a viable replacement for John Hayes.

Perhaps typically for a former Springbok, it’s Buckley’s size and destructive ability that endear him to the forwards coach but it’s a shot in the arm for a player often written off as an international.