PAUL FLAVINmade a late entrance into the Test arena for Ireland against France one day 20 years ago, so late that the IRFU did not see fit to mark the occasion in time-honoured fashion. Their new prop from Blackrock College remained capless until he made the starting XV for the only time later that season.
His name sprang to mind with every pointless substitution made during the Six Nations. Lions’ wing Tommy Bowe and Sam Davies, the grossly under-used Wales stand-off, are the most striking examples.
Ireland, in forlorn pursuit of a losing bonus point against Wales in Cardiff, sent Bo...