Pic: Darragh Fanning’s ear was in an awful state during the Leinster match last night

Was Mike Tyson playing for the Cardiff Blues last night or what?

Leinster might have enjoyed a relatively comfortable win over Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park last night but it was still a pretty bruising affair for a number of men in white jerseys. Captain and try-scorer Kevin McLaughlin had to come off with a broken nose at half-time, while winger Darragh Fanning spent some time on the sidelines in the first half being treated for a blood injury after sustaining a fairly run-of-the-mill cut to the ear early on. If by run-of-the-mill you mean extremely nasty, gruesome and incredibly painful-looking, of course…

@RossOCK Darragh Fanning got his ear pierced today. Ouch @ProperChurch @BrianODriscoll @jamieheaslip pic.twitter.com/6wwvcMunkF — Stephen McGovern (@mcgeebers) February 20, 2014

  Warrior that he is, Fanning came back on a few minutes later and finished out the game on what was a pretty satisfactory night for Leinster overall, but he might be giving Evander Holyfield a call for some ear maintenance tips over the next few days. Hat-tip to Stephen McGovern for the picture and to Fred Sharkey for giving us the heads up on this one