Joe Schmidt turns to steady hand Rory Best

No words from the head coach, just a small bracketed ‘c’ next to Rory Best’s name to signal his appointment as the next captain of Ireland.

Considering the near national trauma that marked the exit of predecessor Paul O’Connell when he suffered a serious hamstring tear that proved the end of his illustrious Test career at the World Cup last October, perhaps the announcement of Best as the man to lead Ireland into next month’s RBS 6 Nations was appropriately low key.

At least the man of the hour was talking, Best, 33, describing the honour of being named national team captain and his intention to do the job his way rather than mimic previous incumbents O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll.