Hugh Farrelly is fulsome in his admiration for Biarritz No8 Imanol Haridordoquy who will again play through the pain barrier this afternoon, in The Irish Independent.
"Big talk requires big actions to back it up and Harinordoquy has not disappointed for, while acknowledging the athleticism, pace, skilful hands and physicality of one of the world's finest No 8s, if there is one quality that defines him, it is bravery. It was a privilege to witness his performance with a broken nose and broken ribs in the semi-final win over Munster. The man had no right to be playing, was wearing a ridiculous face mask necessary to protect the nose that had been operated on the previous week and required treatment on four occasions for the damage sustained to his ribs.
"Yet, Harinordoquy would not leave the pitch until Dimitri Yachvili kicked Biarritz ahead for the first time and the No 8 departed to an incredible ovation from the Biarritz faithful. The only comparable display that springs to mind is Ireland flanker Philip Matthews playing for almost 60 minutes with a dislocated shoulder in the torrid 15-15 draw with France in 1985. The Ulsterman realised the only available substitute was prop Mick Fitzpatrick and played with one arm until he could go on no longer.
"Harinordoquy is made of the same stuff. The ribs are still cracked but he scoffed at the notion that they might rule him out of today's final. Toulouse go in as overwhelming 2/7 favourites but the fact Harinordoquy is 7/1 favourite to scoop the man of the match award tells its own tale."
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