Now you see them...Six Nations flyers!

PAUL FLAVIN made 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 Bowe on with 26 seconds left on the clock. No sooner had they done so than he was being carted off with a damaged ankle, his appearance limited to ten seconds.

Wales cut it even finer, sending Davies on in the same match with eleven seconds remaining. The fleeting prospect of a try bonus point stretched the game long enough for him to manage all of two minutes 37 seconds before his fumble ended the match.

Davies, a substitute eight times without once being granted a start, averaged 13 minutes per match. Harlequins’ prop Kyle Sinckler played more. His nine outings off the bench for England amounted to the grand total of 94 minutes which makes him, for the time being at least, the tenminute cap.