Trevor Hogan doesn’t have too many reminders of his rugby career around his home in Dublin but there is a memento of the day he made his Ireland debut 20 years ago. Hogan was in a competitive space as a player with a queue of top locks. In 2005, Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan and Malcolm O’Kelly were selected for the Lions squad to travel to New Zealand so Hogan got his first Ireland call-up for the summer tour of Japan. His persistence paid off, or as a Japanese saying goes: effort never betrays you.