Across The Gain Line . . . with Colm Kinsella

KEITH Earls had a new lodger in his bedroom in South Africa this week - he’s once again sharing with a lion.
Leigh Halfpenny’s unfortunate injury problems means Munster star Earls, as the youngest member in the Lion’s squad, has to take charge of the team’s mascot, ‘Lenny the Lion.’ Earls got to off-load Lenny onto Halfpenny when the Welshman winger joined the squad late after recovering from intensive physiotherapy for a troublesome thigh injury. However, Halfpenny sustained another thigh muscle injury this week, which rules the 20-year-old out of featuring in any further games and will see him return home after Saturday’s clash with Western Province in Cape Town. So 21-year-old Earls- almost 15 months older than Halfpenny- takes custody of Lenny once again.
In case you are not aware, Lenny is the mascot the Lions captain holds in his hand as he leads the team onto the playing pitch before tour games.
Limerickman Earls has enjoyed an eventful tour to date.
Earlier this week is was revealed that Earls had recovered from the type of injuries normally associated with being in a car crash to score his side’s second try in their nail-biting victory over the Free State Cheetahs on Saturday. Highly experienced Lions doctor, James Robson reckoned 21-year-old Earls suffered injuries similar to a seat belt in a car snapping across the chest when damaging his right shoulder at the clavicle region as a result of Royal XV prop Albertus Buckle landed heavily on him.
The collision injured Earls’ shoulder in two places and left him with deep bruising in that area of his chest.
It was the sort of injury which Dr Robson would have sent a player home from many of the previous tours he has been on, yet seven days later Earls scored a vital try in the 26-24 win over the Cheetahs.
“In the past, Keith would almost certainly have been off the tour. I really thought that he and Riki Flutey were going to be the first players out of Africa,” Dr Robson revealed.
“Keith did phenomenally well to return to play on Saturday and score that try. He had the kind of collision injury you see in a car accident when a seat belt snaps across your chest. He damaged his shoulder joint and had very deep bruising across his chest. It is testament to his character, and the hard work of the physio Phil Pask, that he is still on the tour. Phil inflicted a huge amount of pain on the young man with some very deep muscle massage therapy. So, seeing him score the try was fantastic.
“The professionalism shown by the whole squad in their injury management is the best I have ever seen. Keith was having treatment about six times per day from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.
“It was very painful, deep massage on a very severe bruise. You could say that Phil Pask has helped to save Keith’s tour by the work he has done with him.”

Castletroy College
IN the not too dim and distant past, secondary school kids went on school tours to the likes of the zoo, the wax museum or if things got very exotic, you might get an outing to Dail Eireann. Well, this week I realise I was simply born in the wrong era.
The Castletroy College senior rugby squad are currently on a three-week visit to South Africa. The touring party includes 30 players and 10 coaches. The Limerick students have a hectic playing schedule over the coming weeks with five games to be played against Hillcrest High School and Northwood High School in Durban, Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, Point High School in Mossel Bay and Park Gymnasium in Cape Town. The students will get the chance to take in three of the Lions touring games, the fixture against the Sharks in Durban on Wednesday night last and the upcoming matches against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth and the Emerging Springboks in Cape Town. The tour took the best part of two years to organise and the students engaged in a successful fundraising drive, organising events such as raffles, bag packing, quiz nights and more besides. It’s surely a trio of a lifetime for a teenager who loves his rugby.