Niall Scannell: ‘It is not that you think you are a bad player’

Niall Scannell today ends his year-long wait for an eighth Ireland cap and has the chance to put a season of frustration in the rear-view mirror.

The 26-year-old hooker starts this morning’s second Test against the Wallabies, just two weeks after learning he would be going on tour as a late call-up, following a hamstring injury to Rory Best.

He had been expecting a low-key summer, after a season with Munster repeatedly interrupted by injury. He missed the November internationals and was omitted from the Six Nations squad.