Keith Earls - a special talent and a better person

Ireland are now deep into their World Cup preparations after arriving in France to take on Samoa in Bayonne next weekend.

It will be the last chance for a number of guys to stake their claim for a place in the squad. One of those will be Keith Earls and it would be remiss of me not to take time out from the squad predictions and analysis of the game strategy to focus on the man himself.

Keith is a coaches' player, a players' player and immensely popular with supporters and even opposition players.

There were widespread tributes to him last week, despite there not being full certainty that he'd make it onto the pitch for his 100th Irish test cap. After replacing James Lowe for the final 20 minutes in the win over England, there was a queue from the opposition to congratulate him. It’s a testament to the kind of person that Earlsy is.

His early highlight reel - for instance, his chip up for one of his three tries in Musgrave Park against the Dragons - is the reason why he was originally capped. His relentless work ethic is the reason why he’s still being capped.

He was always extremely talented and had the raw ingredients to become a top professional player. His speed and power allow him to do things that others can only watch and admire.

However, that doesn’t tell the full story. His try-saving tackles against Italy in the Six Nations and Japan in the 2019 World Cup are standout moments, revealing the character of one of Limerick’s rugby heroes.

I was lucky to call Keith a teammate for the middle part of his career. He was a well-established Irish international at this stage, with the aura that comes with that, yet he’s the most ordinary and down to earth guy you will come across.

Any time we did some speed work, the standard was