Hughton thrives in new role

CHRIS HUGHTON always played for Ireland with the enthusiasm of a star-struck schoolboy and his cheery good humour has not been dimmed by the responsibilities of management.

Assistant manager to Brian Kerr is clearly a task he is enjoying, just as he is relishing his coaching duties with Ireland’s current internationals. He literally skipped from one interview situation to the other after yesterday’s training sessions in Dublin, feeding his thoughts to the newspaper reporters, then the radio representatives and, finally, the TV crews with a sparkle in his eye.

“As a group (this squad) is very good,” he said. “There is a lot of experience, there is an awful lot of quality in the group.