TARGET MAN

THE PRESSURE was unreal, he says. Even the memory of it makes him gulp, that clear recollection of panic as he looked around and saw the cameras staring back at him, that scary sensation as he realised how many people had eyes on him that day.

“Without doubt the most frightening thing I have ever done,” says Ronan Kelleher, the 23-year-old Leinster and Ireland hooker who was brought along as cover on the British & Irish Lions tour in the summer, a nod from Warren Gatland and his coaches that told you something about his growing reputation.

So, in that moment of truth, he stepped up and tried his best to disguise his fear, but there was just no hiding it. His technique let him down. Excruciating. He had played in front of 50,000 expectant Irish fans at the Aviva and in front of 80,000 largely England fans at Twickenham. He had thrown into lineouts under the most intense heat in Test and European rugby for country and club, but