LAST NIGHT AT the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, one legend of Irish rugby presented a special jersey to another man who will become a legend of the game in Ireland. The great Ollie Campbell was invited in by Andy Farrell for an important occasion as 37-year-old loosehead prop Cian Healy gets set to win his record-breaking 134th cap for Ireland. Healy equalled Brian O’Driscoll’s record a couple of weekends ago but he will set a new one when Farrell’s men take on Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies tomorrow afternoon, which also serves as the celebration of the IRFU’s 150th anniversary.
Clearly, this shouldn’t have been a tough week for Farrell to rally his players but it helped to have Campbell come into camp last night. The former out-half won 22 caps for Ireland from 1976 to 1984. He’s well-known as one of the nicest people in Irish rugby, as well as a treasure trove of the history of the game on this island.
He’s also a Belvedere College old boy, with Healy following in his footsteps there. Making tomorrow all the more fitting an occasion for Healy is that his Ireland debut came 15 years ago in November 2009 against the Wallabies in Croke Park. “It’s huge, it’s a huge privilege for us all,” said Farrell yesterday.
“We’ve Ollie Campbell coming in this evening presenting the one-off jerseys we’re going to use. They’re beautiful jerseys, aren’t they? “So it’s a privilege for us because we talk about our history a lot in this type of position when it com.