3. Paul O\u2019Connell & Ryan Caldwell<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a training drill turned into a near-death experience\u201d<\/p>\n
This one still sends shivers down spines. <\/p>\n
During a 2007 Ireland training camp ahead of the Rugby World Cup, Paul O\u2019Connell lost his temper with young Ulster lock Ryan Caldwell after a clumsy tackle in a no-contact drill. O\u2019Connell lashed out with a punch that knocked Caldwell out cold.<\/p>\n
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\u2019Connell:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe story is, you nearly killed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell would later call it the darkest moment of his career, vowing to never again let training ground scraps spiral out of control.<\/p>\n
4. Brian O\u2019Driscoll & Austin Healey<\/p>\n
\u201cDrico gloves up and delivers a lesson\u201d<\/p>\n
On the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour, England\u2019s Austin Healey couldn\u2019t resist poking fun at a battered Ronan O\u2019Gara, whose face was swollen from battle. O\u2019Gara brushed him off, but a young Brian O\u2019Driscoll decided enough was enough.<\/p>\n
In stepped the boxing gloves. What followed was a one-sided demolition, with O\u2019Driscoll unleashing fury as teammates roared him on. Keith Wood later summed it up perfectly:<\/p>\n
\u201cDrico beat the living crap out of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
CONTINUES ON PAGE FOUR<\/p>\n
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