Back to take the fight to his brothers

IAN NAGLE played home and away against Munster last season, but Leo Cullen’s selection policies means he has no role on Tuesday. Where he started and lasted almost an hour in the game in Dublin last season, his experience on his return to Thomond Park on St Stephen’s Day 2016 was a groggier experience altogether.

He came on as a second half replacement – and was gone in little more than 15 minutes for a head injury assessment.

‘Just a bit of bad luck,’ he shrugs. ‘Hopefully I get another crack this time.’

He has, of course, nothing but good to say about the province where his career started, but acknowledges that lining out as an opposing player in Limerick was a strange sensation.

‘My time with Munster overall was very positive. I do like to think I left on very good terms. I’d like to think I have close friends in both changing rooms.

‘It was strange. I’d be lying if I said it was anything else. It was nice, too. It’s like if you’re fighting your brother. You’ll always try your hardest when you are fighting your brother.’