A rugby miscellany compiled by JOHNNY WATTERSON

Lions: O'Gara eyes fourth tour

Ronan O’Gara has admitted he still dreams about being a Lion. So can the great man of Munster perform well enough this season to make it on to a fourth tour? Judging by his performance against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium jury is still out.

Both O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll are bidding for a fourth trip but only two players have achieved that before, both of them Irish – Mike Gibson and Willie John McBride. Gibson also made five tours (1966, 1968, ’71, ’74 and ’77). O’Gara and O’Driscoll joined the three-tour club in South Africa in 2009, with Martyn Williams and Simon Shaw.

MAGIC MOMENT

We were all smitten by the romantic interlude during the match at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday where Robert Murphy demonstratively proposed to Ruth Larkin in front of 46,280 people. We all wished she would say yes and she did. The announcer told us the bride-to-be would soon become Ruth Larkin-Murphy. Is it only in Leinster rugby you acquire an extra name when you are married and possibly a hyphen too.

Exeter exile: Dungannon man drives Chiefs at 10

Harlequins put themselves back into the contest against Exeter in their weekend Premiership match, when Nick Evans charged down a Gareth Steenson (above) kick to score an unconverted try.

But the Dungannon-born outhalf Steenson came back from that misjudgment to add four conversions and three penalties in Exeter’s historic victory over last season’s champions.

A former Ireland under-21 player, Steenson’s rise from Cornish Pirates to Exeter will be on show next Saturday night when they face Leinster in the first pool match of the Heineken Cup.