Best determined to buck trend in Paris

Rory Best’s message ahead of Ireland’s latest trip to Paris is to forget about the size of the mountain in front of them and instead concentrate on the rewards that await the men in green who prove able to conquer it.

The stats are depressingly familiar — one win in the 40 years since 1972 — but victory in the French capital would inject untold momentum into the Irish Six Nations campaign, propel them back into the reckoning for the title itself and make immortals of those who pull it off.

“History suggests that it is something that doesn’t happen very often,” said the Ulster hooker. “From an Irish point of view, we go full of confidence but fully aware of how long it has been since we beat them there. It is a massive challenge in that we haven’t done it in so long.