THEY’VE NEVER FACED off on the field but Brian O’Driscoll and Roy Keane will go head-to-head for Irish Sports Book of the Year.

O’Driscoll’s autobiography The Test and Keane’s The Second Half are among the six nominees vying for this year’s prize.

Also in contention are autobiographies by former Republic of Ireland international Alan McLoughlin, Clare hurling legend and former Dublin boss Anthony Daly, and Emma O’Reilly, the Irish soigneur who helped blow the whistle on Lance Armstrong’s doping.

Fields of Fire, Damien Lawlor’s chronicle of hurling’s recent renaissance, completes the shortlist.

The Test and Paul Galvin’s self-penned memoir In My Own Words have also been nominated for the RTÉ Radio 1’s John Murray Show Listeners’ Choice Award.

The winners will be announced at a gala event on Wednesday 26 November.

Bord Gáis Energy Sports Book of the Year nominees

• The Test by Brian O’Driscoll (Penguin Ireland)
• The Second Half by Roy Keane with Roddy Doyle (Orion)
• Dalo: The Autobiography of Anthony Daly by Anthony Daly (Transworld Ireland)
• The Race to Truth by Emma O’Reilly (Bantam)
• A Different Shade of Green by Alan McLoughlin (Ballpoint Press)
• Fields of Fire by Damian Lawlor (Transworld Ireland)

One of these 7 sports books will win the prestigious William Hill Prize this year