Late bloomer thriving on centre stage after years waiting in wings

Back in 2009, when schools teams were celebrating cup success it wasn't part of the ritual to conduct a poll identifying those destined for the next step: the pro game. So when Blackrock beat Terenure in the Leinster schools final that year, nobody was declaring publicly they were on the road to stardom. Pity, because if that particular group had been offered Lotto figures to name the famous five set to earn a living from rugby in Ireland, they still would have got the wrong combo.