The Big Interview: "There I was one Monday morning, rambling around, going nowhere. And the bould Paul rang. ‘Howiya, Roddy!’"

On the face of it, Paul Howard and Roddy Collins may be an unlikely partnership. But Collins' rollicking life story has, among many things, been a lesson in not taking things at face value. 

A LIFE LESS ORDINARY: Paul Howard and Roddy Collins have crossed paths throughout their respective sporting lives. 

At first glance they seem an unlikely pairing. Paul Howard is an Irish literary giant, a master of the pen. Roddy Collins wouldn’t even read the coaching books his pal Shaun Edwards would bring over when staying in his and Caroline’s house. Howard’s star continues to ascend; Collins’, prior to this project anyway, had seemed to flame out.

Yet here they are, doing the rounds, having collaborated on one of the best and certainly most rollicking and entertaining Irish sports books of recent years. Because ultimately they had even more in common, most notably a love and remarkable capacity to tell a yarn. Kieran Shannon met up with them to hear them recount more than one.