ALL IN THE SCRUM:A rugby miscellany
WHILE international teams these days empty the bench towards the end of matches, very often to give younger players some experience, it wasn’t always that way. According to yesterday’s match programme, Mike Gibson became the first official replacement to be used in a Test match, when he arrived on for the injured Barry John during the Test between the Lions and South Africa at Pretoria in 1968.
It wasn’t until 1969 that Terenure’s Mick Hipwell became the first official replacement used by Ireland in a Test game when he came on for Noel Murphy against France at Lansdowne Road.
The first-ever official replacement used in a rugby union match was former Munster and Ireland centre, the late Barry Bresnihan, who replaced Gibson in a Lions game in 1968.
Versatile: Outhalf Hook’s third position with Wales
JAMES Hook has always been regarded as a creative player and showed that in his performance for Wales against Scotland in Edinburgh. But the Ospreys player pulled on the outhalf jersey this weekend for the very first time since Wales played Italy two seasons ago, when he took over from the veteran Stephen Jones.
Hook won his 49th cap on Saturday and has played in three different positions for his country –, 17 times at centre, 13 times at outhalf, seven at fullback and 12 times as a replacement.
Given Seán O’Brien’s ability to play numerous positions you might see him moving around the backrow more often (although not with Heaslip around), as with Leinster, while Luke Fitzgerald has also done stints on the wings as well as playing at full back yesterday, his favourite position.
Numbers game: Seven
The IRB and Six Nations organisers put considerable resources into the amount of judges, referees, TMOs etc they appoint for a Six Nations match to ensure close scrutiny. Yesterday’s match in Aviva was a case in point.
There were no less than seven officials involved in the Test, starting with English referee Dave Pearson and his assistants, Wayne Barnes and Scotland’s David Changleng. Officials number four and number five (there does not appear to be a number three) were both from the IRFU and they were Alan Lewis and Dudley Philips.
The TMO was Geoff Warren from the RFU and the citing Commissioner Brian Fowler from Wales.
Of course it pales into significance against the number of people, 1,700, employed for yesterday’s match.
Numbers: Don’t add up
THAT august organisation RBS supply statistics before all the Six Nations matches and yesterday’s was no different. However, we were left a little perplexed by Ireland’s win-loss ratio against France. Before yesterday’s match the countries had played each other 56 times with Ireland winning 40 of those and France winning, er, 42, with Ireland losing 16 and France losing 14. We’re unconvinced that if there were only 56 matches there could be 82 victories between the two sides.
Our resident statistician suggests that perhaps Ireland have played 56, won 16 and lost 40, while France have won 42 and lost 14 of those 56 games. That and no draws would give Ireland a 28.57 per cent win record.
Their highest margin of victory at home to France was 24-0 in the Mardyke in 1913.
Earls of Moyross: Best pick
KEITH Earls, as we all now know, has Moyross, the area in Limerick where he grew up, stamped into his boots.
He was asked this week what was the best match he had ever seen and cited Munster’s miracle match against Gloucester (2002-03 season when Munster needed to win by a margin of at least 27 points and score a minimum of four tries to earn a quarter-final berth. They won 33-6 with four tries), adding: “I jumped over the wall at Thomond with my mates to see it.”
Paul O’Connell also said he used to jump the wall at Thomond to see matches but we suspect young Earls might have had to take a considerably longer run at it.
Earls also held a wry opinion on who would win the World Cup later this year. “Ireland v New Zealand final,” said the winger. “And (we’ll) take our chances from there.”
Ref’s little helper: Good call
SO much for all the scrutiny on referees these days but they don’t always make the calls.
While Irish referee George Clancy, with the help of assistant, Frenchman Romain Poite, rightly had Wales reduced to 13 men in the first half for a high tackle and a cynical play, Scotland still could not run in a try against the numerically-challenged visitors.
A miserly three points was all they could assemble while fullback Lee Byrne and secondrow Bradley Davies were given enforced rests.
The call to yellow-card Byrne was made by assistant Poite. However, maybe we should’nt have been so surprised with that fallow period for Scotland as they have not scored a try in Murrayfield since they beat Italy two years ago.
