Tomás O’Leary won’t give up on Ireland recall

It was 16 years or so ago when word emerged from Christian Brothers, Cork that an exceptional talent was about to burst on the Munster rugby scene.

Tomás O’Leary was a son of Seanie, one of the many brilliant Cork hurlers of the time, and on the threshold himself of winning minor All-Ireland medals in 2000/01.

By then, though, his scorching pace and natural instincts marked him out as an exceptional scrum-half on the rugby field, and within a short few years he was helping Munster to win their second Heineken Cup and become the Irish number nine, with 24 caps to his credit. A broken ankle sustained in a game against Scarlets at Musgrave Park cost him a place on the Lions tour of South Africa in 2009 and he subsequently struggled for his Munster and Ireland place against Peter Stringer and later Conor Murray.