Irish trio hope to prove injury nightmares are over

MANY an hour has been lost in Smyth’s pub on Dublin’s Haddington Road immersed in talk of rugby but yesterday’s chats with Jerry Flannery, Tomás O’Leary and Stephen Ferris could have been mistaken for an informal medical seminar.

All three have travelled the lonely road back from injury this year but there was glad, if cautious, tidings to be heard about pulls, tears and strains amid the bar’s Leinster flags and framed photos of Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara and other memorabilia.

“I’ve got three weeks under my belt now in pre-season and I’m feeling good and feeling fresh,” said O’Leary whose back injury cut short his Six Nations and kept him sidelined until early May when he filched 50 minutes against Connacht.