Best rows in behind skipper

For a player expected by many to succeed Brian O’Driscoll as captain of Ireland, Rory Best could have been less forthcoming in his support of the man who got the nod ahead of him.

Yet in offering his backing to the under-fire skipper Jamie Heaslip, the Ulster hooker chose not to issue a few hollow phrases and move on to other issues, of which there are currently many in this Irish Six Nations campaign. Instead, Best gave a ringing endorsement of the man selected by head coach Declan Kidney to continue the job he was given on a temporary basis last November.

In the absence through injury of not just O’Driscoll but also senior figures Paul O’Connell and Best himself, No 8 Heaslip assumed the captaincy for the first autumn series Test against South Africa. A yellow card that served as a major turning point in the defeat by the Springboks did not do Heaslip any favours yet he redeemed himself a fortnight later by leading from the front in the rout of Argentina.