A momentous night for Irish rugby as Jamie Heaslip appeared on Phil Tufnell's team on A Question of Sport. But what did we learn from his performance?
Well, in the first instance, those who have, in recent years, wholly forsaken the TV for the internet will have been surprised to learn that A Question of Sport is still on the television.
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On a previous Question of Sport appearance from an Irish rugby luminary, Keith Wood, despite being on John Parrot's team, told Ally McCoist, following a mild slight from an Englishman, that 'us Celts should stick together' before quickly remembering Ally's former profession and withdrawing the comment. It was imperative that Jamie steer clear of any political faux pas of that nature last night.
The union of Irish rugby writers might choose to peddle the line that it is significant Heaslip was overlooked for the captaincy role. Others will assert that this misunderstands the format of A Question of Sport and that the captains are fixed regulars, determined at the start of each series.
We admire hugely the brilliant and forensic analysis of Murray Kinsella over at the42.ie. However, we have bemoaned the lack of depth in the coverage of Jamie's seminal appearance of Britain's longest running crap sports quiz. This is an attempt to rectify that.
The primary takeaway from the show is that Heaslip is especially weak on questions about rugby.
STRONG, CONFIDENT START
Heaslip's team were in imperious form early doors, achieving a perfect score in the picture round. Heaslip showed his keen tennis knowledge when he successfully corrected Tufnell after the latter misidentified Lleyton Hewitt as Stan Wawrinka.
He was relatively quick off the mark on spotting Shay Given, though, to be fair, so was Tufnell. He even got a couple of rugby questions right when he identified Toby Faletau and Stuart Hogg.
He exuded confidence early on. This gif showcases his coolness and alertness in the opening exchanges. Head down, ears cocked, perfect execution.
THINGS GO WRONG
It was in round 2 where things started to go wrong. Heaslip dropped the bombshell admission that he had as much, if not more, faith in his golf knowledge as his rugby knowledge.
Asked to choose between a question on Darren Clarke or former England rugby international Ben Clarke, Jamie opted for the poser on Darren.
He proceeded to guess '2008' to the question 'When did Darren Clarke win the British Open?', simultaneously revealing that he was unaware that Padraig Harrington won his second British Open that year.
His sterling captain didn't trust the '2008' answer, rightly guessing it was more recently than that. However, the 2008 poison had infected his brain and he only switched to 2010. One year out.
SITUATION RETRIEVED
What Heaslip lacks in stone cold general knowledge, he makes up for in his powers of deduction.
Momentarily chastened after mucking up the D. Clarke question, he accepts a rugby question.
Ben Clarke played on the Lions tour in 1993 but who were they playing. This is a difficult question for an Irish rugby supporter considering that almost no Irish players travelled on that tour.
Heaslip himself doesn't know the answer. But he expertly deduces the answer from his knowledge of more recent tours. If 2005 was in New Zealand, 2001 was in Australia, and 1997 was famously in South Africa, then it must be that we were back in New Zealand in '93.
Observe his concentration and cool use of logic below.
LAMONT
Perhaps Heaslip's worst moment of the show was forgetting that there has been more than on Lamont playing for Scotland in the past decade.
At a crucial stage in the game, with his team having just ceded the lead, Heaslip opted to go conservative and stick with a 'home' question, aka rugby question worth only one point.
The question was: Which player earned their 100th international cap in a 36-33 win over Samoa in the Rugby World Cup, forty-two of which had come in the Six Nations.
Appearing deeply uncertain at the outset, Heaslip, after briefly batting it back and forth with his ebullient captain, settled on the name 'Lamont'.
Sue was then obliged to ask him which Lamont he meant.
This query knocked the stuffing out of Jamie somewhat. He tentatively advanced the name 'Rory Lamont' and it fell to Tufnell to throw the name 'Sean Lamont' into the mix.
It descended into an unseemly row between the player and his captain. Jamie's stubbornness came to the fore as he insisted on Rory Lamont.
Sue told him he'd got the wrong one and hilarity ensued. But it was no laughing matter.
THE BUZZER ROUND
Heaslip's team won the day thanks to a late correct guess from much-maligned captain but the undoubted star of the evening, Phil Tufnell.
This was in spite of Heaslip not answering any questions correctly in the rapid fire round. The one answer he tried was to guess Australia to the question 'Which rugby team has won every World Cup final they've competed in?' The answer was South Africa (Australia lost the 2003 final to England and the 2015 one to Ness Zealand).
However, what his critics are missing is the unseen work he did it in that final round, providing moral support for the team captain Tufnell as he carried the team to victory.
Despite what the (Munster based) critics are saying, he more than justified his inclusion for future series should the producers get in touch with him again.
