Strauss already having a ball

He had waited three years to pull on an Ireland jersey and it took just three minutes for his long-awaited Test debut to unravel.

The newly-capped hooker Richardt Strauss, word perfect in delivering Amhrán na bhFiann during the pre-match anthems, was yesterday nursing a split lip that had threatened to end his Ireland debut almost as quickly as it had started last Saturday.

Just three minutes into the Test against his native South Africa, Strauss, playing for his adopted country under the three-year residency rule, dived face first into a trailing boot, forcing him off with a mouth full of blood. It had capped a shaky start to his Ireland career having thrown a couple of wobbly lineout balls in the opening moments, but luckily for the Leinster front rower a few stitches was all that was needed to repair the wound and he returned to action for what would become a more than competent performance.