Why he loves getting shirty

WHO was the first person to learn the Ireland team to face Australia once Declan Kidney had signed off on his first XV?

Well, it wasn’t the media. At this World Cup it’s a former number eight for Abbeyfeale RFC named Bevan Patrick Ryan.

That may seem a strange choice to reveal a matchday squad to in this instant information age but all becomes clear when you learn that Ryan is the guy whose company prints the numbers on the backs of the Ireland jerseys and the players’ names inside the collars.