Paula Fitzpatrick eyes historic first on familiar French soil

Trevor Brennan’s place has been the first port of call for thousands of Irish people visiting Toulouse for well over a decade now so there was nothing unusual in Paula Fitzpatrick and Heather O’Brien seeking him out on arrival last September.

These weren’t the usual pilgrims, though.

Two experienced Irish rugby internationals, they had accepted an offer to play with the Toulouse women’s side for the year in the country’s Top 8 and who better than the city’s favourite Irishman to mark their card for the season ahead?