Keith Earls is hoping to draw on Ireland's historic victory over France 10 years ago when Ireland return to Paris this weekend. David Kelly writes in the Irish Independent.
"It is March 20, 2000. A wide-eyed schoolkid is sitting towards the back of his class. He can hear an echo from a few feet away as a geography teacher describes how best to distinguish the Barrow, the Nore and the Suir on a map of Ireland.
"But the kid is dreamily doodling. A green giant is looming large from a blank page where the topography of Munster is supposed to be. It is Brian O'Driscoll. Surrounding him are three smaller figures in blue. They are crying. They are French.
"This is Keith Earls. Aged 11 years and five months. Hoping to become a daydream believer. Ten years on, he will tread the same turf as his boyhood hero."
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