Forget Leicester City.
The real sporting story of the season is Connacht's relentless march to the Pro12 title. Their play-off prospects were further boosted with yesterday's tense 7-6 defeat of Leinster. The once-neglected Westerners are Ireland's top side at the moment, which marks an extraordinary reshuffle of the Irish rugby hierarchy.
Connacht's rise to prominence has been great news for many, but perhaps the real winner is Eddie the Eagle. Otherwise known as Connacht's mascot. For many years, Eddie was presumably the butt of many of the jokes and vicious put-downs that did the rounds among the provincial mascots at games, on whatsapp and at whatever union meetings they went to.
But thanks to a Kieron Marmion try and some staunch defending, Eddie the Eagle's plight is no more. With respect, Eddie the Eagle only took to trading verbal blows with Leo the Lion when encouraged to by another tweeter. Once it began, however, Eddie was fain to bask in the reflected glory of victory:
'What were you doing on New Years' Day' presumably refers to Leinster's 13-0 win over Connacht at the RDS earlier this year.
We can only hope that both Eddie and Leo tweet while wearing their costumes.
