Craig Casey: 'It’s part and parcel of rugby, you hope it doesn’t happen often'

PART AND PARCEL: Munster's Craig Casey is used to the physical attention he receives on the rugby pitch. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Craig Casey has done enough by now to prove that what he lacks in inches he makes up for in confidence and resilience but there is a good reason why his watching family may not feel so well armed when the Munster and Ireland scrum-half takes the field.

As the self-confessed smallest player on the pitch, Casey says he is used to the physical treatment he receives from opponents with last Saturday’s Champions Cup clash offering the latest moment when breaths may have been held concerning his safety as Stade Francais lock Baptiste Pesenti lifted him upside down until the scrum-half’s head was the closest part of him to the deck.