I have known Keith Wood for nearly 30 years and so it’s easy to talk about life and death long before we move on to rugby. Gordon Wood played for Munster, as well as Ireland and the Lions, before he died, aged 50, in 1982. Keith was only 10 when that first tragedy occurred but he went on to play for the same three teams as his dad. In the year after a Lions series, every player that went on that tour is wrecked [Ireland supplied 15 members of the 38-man squad]. But then you look at the performance of the players he’s picked instead and it’s been extraordinary.

Source: Irish Examiner February 17, 2026 09:52 UTC