It’s all about winning

Mike Phillips claims friendships made on last year’s victorious Lions tour between the Irish and Welsh players will be put on the back burner this weekend in Dublin.

The last two Lions tours have been dominated by players from Wales and Ireland and there were 13 players from the two countries in the starting line-up for the decisive third Test in Sydney seven month ago.

But even though players such as Phillips and half-back partner Jonny Sexton, who now play together in Paris for Racing Metro, helped steer the Lions to a famous 2-1 series win, there will be no room for sentiment on Saturday.