By Jim Stokes BBC Sport

Four years ago Shane Byrne had only just celebrated a first international cap, a month before his 30th birthday.

Byrne has started one game on tour and came on in two others

But now the Ireland hooker is taking over the fiefdom of compatriot and Lions legend Keith Wood.

Wood's distinctive bald head protruded from the red number two jersey in each of the last two Lions Test series.

But this time it has been bestowed upon the 33-year-old Leinster man with the mullet.

Byrne likes his darts, and you can tell why when he arrows in on his line-out jumpers.

One of the foundations of Ireland's success over the past few seasons has been the 38-times capped Byrne's accuracy across the tram rails.

Front, middle or back, it is like feathering a double top for victory as far as the Aughrim-born player is concerned.

All those training nights spearing a ball through an old tyre has paid off in spades, culminating in his Lions call-to-arms.

It has taken a while, mind you. He beavered away for seven years with Leinster before finally realising his ambition of donning an Ireland jersey.

Shadowing Wood was no easy job. He rarely had a bad game, and Byrne was forced to wait patiently with Frankie Sheahan also usurping him when Wood was unavailable.

It was typical of Byrne, or "Munch" as his team-mates know him, to organise his stag outing in Bucharest at the same time Ireland were due to face Romania in June 2001.

Wood was with the Lions in Australia, and Byrne got himself selected in the Ireland squad.

He was finally rewarded for his patience with a first cap as a second-half replacement for Sheahan in a 37-3 victory.

Games remained sporadic for the next two years, but Byrne could at least claim international status for himself.

Byrne rarely misses his target

He became an iconic figure in his own way, the follicular opposite to Wood.

He finally nailed down a permanent spot in the Ireland team when Wood retired at the end of the 2003 World Cup, and played a key role in their Triple Crown success last year.

But some pundits raised their eyebrows when Byrne was included in the original Lions squad.

He may lack the power in the loose of Steve Thompson and Gordon Bulloch, but has shown on tour that when it comes to finding his target at the line-out, he has few peers.

Interestingly, he is a loose Lion, on the prowl for a club.

The Irish Rugby Union and Leinster have offered him a new one-year deal, but Byrne's case for a longer one can only be enhanced by his new status.

Wasps are apparently interested in acquiring his services, even if a move to west London would mean Byrne having to leave his Dublin home along with wife Caroline and two-year-old twin daughters Alex and Kerry.

But that is for the future. Saturday and the All Blacks are exercising his mind at present.

The set-piece will be one of the key factors in Sir Clive Woodward's game plan.

Territorial rugby requires some primary weapons, and Byrne will be the man loading the line-out bullets.