From loosehead to poet, Tom Clancy takes it all in his stride

There is always too much made of the discovery of a cerebral sportsperson. Who will ever forget the mileage British soccer hacks got from the discovery that England defender Graeme Le Saux had a degree and read The Guardian?

Still though, you just don’t expect a prop to recite poetry, never mind write enough of quality to have a book published. But that is the story of Tom Clancy, a loosehead who was capped nine times for Ireland in the late 1980s.

The former Connacht, Lansdowne, and Old Belvedere forward always had a love of poetry but it is only recently that he released the shackles on his hidden talent.