Donncha O'Callaghan drew the attention of Irish rugby fans earlier this month when he took a pop at Leinster's recent inability to get over the line in the Champions Cup in recent years.
The Munster legend was previewing the opening rounds of this year's competition on his podcast The Offload with Tommy Bowe, and the pair looked back on Leinster's back-to-back-to-back final defeats over the past three seasons.
With the massive acquisitions of RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett bolstering their ranks this season, there is an added expectation this year. O'Callaghan said Leinster simply had to get over the line this season, and compared their lack of silverware with the farcically drawn-out construction of the new Children's Hospital in Dublin.
It was a throwaway remark, but it formed the crux of Sunday Times journalist Peter O'Reilly's weekend column last week, as he compared O'Callaghan's comments to those typically expected of sensationalist George Hook.
O'Reilly was assessing Munster's Champions Cup hopes, which took a blow with defeat to Castres last week. As a lead-in to the discussion, he addressed Donncha O'Callaghan's damning line on Leinster.
"As a pundit," O'Reilly wrote, "O’Callaghan offers the credibility of having played nearly 100 Test matches as well as going on two Lions tours and winning two Heineken Cups.
"Yet you suspect he is also aiming to fill a gap in the market that has been there ever since George Hook’s retirement: the controversialist, the shit-stirrer."
It was no surprise that those comments were put to O'Callaghan on this week's podcast by his co-host Tommy Bowe. The Munster legend responded in typical O'Callaghan fashion.
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Donncha O'Callaghan responds after call-out from journalist
On this week's episode of The Offload, Tommy Bowe revealed to Donncha O'Callaghan what had been written about him by Peter O'Reilly in the Sunday Times.
O'Reilly recently ghost-wrote Johnny Sexton's autobiography, which continues to hold strong in bestseller lists. When Bowe put it to O'Callaghan that he had gone at the "Blue Media" in the past, O'Callaghan had his retort ready.
Tommy Bowe: "According to Peter O'Reilly in The Times at the weekend..."
Donncha O'Callaghan: "Peter O'Reilly from the Sunday Times?"
Bowe: "He's having a go!"
O'Callaghan: "He's having a go?!"
Bowe: "I mean [the Children's Hospital line] was a great line in terms of return of investment. But obviously you've maybe had a go at the 'Blue Media' in the past as well. He's coming back at ya!"
O'Callagahn: "Hold on, maybe the ultimate one: We need to get a cavan jack to get Peter out of Johnny's arse - ooh, I'll write your book Johnny and then I'll bang the Leinster drum...ah look, fair play, he's a beaut but a dog with a mallet up its ass could have written Johnny Sexton's book. Peter, I've the highest respect for you but, honestly, disaster dad could have written that book!"
Tommy Bowe was left in stitches by the interaction, with O'Callaghan not holding back (as we have come to expect from him).
Even if his Leinster comments may have touched some nerves among the team's fanbase, it was only natural that Donncha O'Callaghan was going to respond to being called out in a national newspaper.
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