Tom Daly’s road less travelled takes him to the brink of Ireland debut

Daly has played, and prospered, in the AIL with Lansdowne, captained the Ireland sevens side as it took its first steps towards Olympic glory at their first tournament in Bosnia in 2015, and then rediscovered his feet at 15s way out west with Connacht

Tom Daly at Ireland training. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Tom Daly spent two years at Leinster but his path to Andy Farrell’s senior Ireland squad seems to have meandered through every distant outpost or unfashionable staging point known to rugby on this island.

Born in Carlow, he attended Knockbeg College. It’s a school better known for its GAA heritage and so his progress to the provincial academy came via the Youths system rather than the more usual and refined private schools means.