3. Paul O’Connell & Ryan Caldwell
“When a training drill turned into a near-death experience”
This one still sends shivers down spines.
During a 2007 Ireland training camp ahead of the Rugby World Cup, Paul O’Connell lost his temper with young Ulster lock Ryan Caldwell after a clumsy tackle in a no-contact drill. O’Connell lashed out with a punch that knocked Caldwell out cold.
Caldwell required resuscitation, was rushed to hospital, and later described waking up with his shirt cut open and blood everywhere. A team doctor grimly told O’Connell:
“The story is, you nearly killed him.”
O’Connell would later call it the darkest moment of his career, vowing to never again let training ground scraps spiral out of control.
4. Brian O’Driscoll & Austin Healey
“Drico gloves up and delivers a lesson”
On the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour, England’s Austin Healey couldn’t resist poking fun at a battered Ronan O’Gara, whose face was swollen from battle. O’Gara brushed him off, but a young Brian O’Driscoll decided enough was enough.
In stepped the boxing gloves. What followed was a one-sided demolition, with O’Driscoll unleashing fury as teammates roared him on. Keith Wood later summed it up perfectly:
“Drico beat the living crap out of him.”
CONTINUES ON PAGE FOUR
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