No looking back, insists Kearney

Rob Kearney will not be carrying any baggage from his personal Lions disappointments when he finally gets to face Australia on Saturday.

Ireland play the Wallabies at the Aviva Stadium four months on from the British & Irish Lions Test series victory over them Down Under. Kearney was a part of Warren Gatland’s squad but was a victim of circumstance having travelled to Australia with a hamstring injury sustained before Leinster’s RaboDirect Pro12 final against Ulster on May 25 and by the time he had recovered to face the Waratahs in game five of the 10-match tour, the full-back had effectively been marginalised by the great form of his Wales counterpart Leigh Halfpenny, the eventual player of the series.

Yet, having missed out on all three Lions Tests, Kearney will head into Ireland’s meeting with the Wallabies without a thought of missed opportunities or feeling the need to prove a point.