Patience and hard work paying off for Billy Holland

There have been plenty of times during Billy Holland’s long Munster career that the grass on the other side has seemed an awful lot greener than at home.

That he never hopped over the fence to see for himself is down to a variety of reasons but after years of patiently waiting in line for a series of legendary locks to move on, the 32-year-old’s patience is being rewarded and Holland is relishing every minute he gets to pull on the jersey.

And how those minutes have racked up over the past couple of years. Having played in 29 of Munster’s 32 games during last season’s run to the Champions Cup semi-finals and Guinness PRO12 final, Holland is now preparing to start a 14th straight game of this campaign when Munster travel to Leicester Tigers for Sunday’s European return fixture.