Peter Clohessy on that challenge: ‘I leaned on his head with my boot- the TV replays looked horrific’

Former Ireland and Munster prop Peter Clohessy has admitted he was wrong to kick a French opponent in the head during his playing days, but says it looked far worse than it was in reality.

Ireland were defeated 45-10 at the Parc des Princes during the 1996 Five Nations, but the game had far more serious consequences for Clohessy, who was handed down a six-month ban for kicking Olivier Roumat in the head.

The story is one of many covered in his autobiography A Life With The Claw, written by his wife Anna Gibson Steele.

“While Peter was a phenomenal player, there had been many phenomenal players, but there was a uniqueness to many of the things he did while he was playing,” she told the Sean O’Rourke Show on Radio One today when asked about the reasoning behind the book.

“He broke new ground four or five times and I thought while our kids could watch a DVD of a match, it was important that these events were recorded.”

Clohessy says that the furore over the kick, and subsequent ban, was grossly exaggerated………………. see more at :- http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/other-rugby/peter-clohessy-on-that-challenge-i-leaned-on-his-head-with-my-boot-the-tv-replays-looked-horrific-30707350.html