Captain to play at blindside in Test

Victor Costello was yesterday named at number eight in Ireland's starting lineup for this Saturday's first test against Australia at Ballymore, Brisbane (kick-off 8 p.m local time, 11 a.m Irish), with Dion O'Cuinneagain reverting to number six. David Corkery has been included on the bench, while Trevor Brennan was omitted as his strained shoulder ligaments prevented him from training again.

"Trevor isn't 100 per cent right and the way he plays he could be gone after 10 or 15 minutes," explained Irish manager Donal Lenihan. "Victor is fine and everybody else is fine."

The debate as to O'Cuinneagain's most effective position for Ireland is still unresolved, and the captain's selection on the blindside means that he will have started in each back-row position in Ireland's last three internationals. The odds on Corkery appearing at some point must be short, and the moment is likely to be the sweetest of all for the Cork Constitution flanker given the last of his 28 caps was at Twickenham last year. Ironically, he won his first cap in the first Test here five years ago.

Sympathy for Michelle Smith de Bruin hereabouts is pretty much non-existent and leading members of the Australian swimming community aren't exactly gnashing their teeth over the thought of the Irish swimmer not being able to defend her three gold medals at the Sydney Olympics next year.

Amongst those commenting were the butterfly experts Susie O'Neill and Petria Thomas, who publicly saluted the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to uphold the ban for manipulating a drug test.

O'Neill, who spoiled Smith-de Bruin's quest for a record-equalling fourth gold medal at the Olympics in 1996, commented: "Too often you hear about athletes who test positive, hire a good lawyer and then get off."

"It all seems like a waste of time and energy, but this time they were able to make the charges stick. It is a good thing FINA caught her. I feel sorry for those swimmers who missed an Olympic medal because of her," concluded O'Neill.

You read about it and you hear about it when the Australians tour the Northern Hemisphere, but it is only when you come here do you realise how rugby union is very much the poor relation to rugby league in the eyes of the Australian public and the media. In three of the four national dailies purchased by this writer yesterday there was hardly a mention of Australia's first Test of the season against Ireland this Saturday. This has been the norm.

It so happens that the Irish tour has coincided with the annual mother of all Aussie rugby league collisions, the three-match State of Origin series between the respective hotbed states of league, Queensland and New South Wales.

The closer match day nears, the more it hogs the back pages and even some of the front pages. In the smaller, close-knit environment of Brisbane, population about one million (999,999 of whom rigidly obey traffic lights), there was a far more palpable sense of a whole city rooting for its team.

The Irish party were in Sydney when New South Wales travelled up to Brisbane and lost the first rubber by 9-8, and yesterday were in Brisbane when Queensland lost to New South Wales 12-8 in Sydney to ensure the series goes to a decider back in Brisbane a fortnight hence.

Played in near torrential rain, the ferocity of the tackling and the quality of the handling was quite astonishing. New South Wales won after a stunning try from deep in their own half on only their third tackle after just 42 seconds.

Man-of-the-match was the evergreen and legendary Laurie Daly, playing in his final Origin appearance in Sydney. He made 31 tackles, scored the match-winning try and ended every sentence of an emotional man-of-the-match acceptance speech by calling his interviewer `mate'. Par for the course. The crowd in Stadium Australia was a record 88,336.

After a live transmission of this game, Channel Nine ensured the bars remained full by switching immediately to the Cricket World Cup (which always seems to be on somewhere in the background of every pool hall and bar) and Australia's meeting with Zimbabwe.

And if it's not either of the above, then it was last weekend's record-breaking 1300th Australian Rules field goal by Tony `Plugger' Lockett last weekend - one of the truly legendary moments in Aussie sport - or Patrick Rafter's quest to become Australia's first world number one in tennis for 25 years, or a host of other sports. Thus far, Union is hardly getting a look in. The crowd for this Saturday's Test in Ballymore is expected to be in the region of 20,000.

One of the curiosities of the Parkroyal Hotel, where the Irish team is based, is a marker in the foyer over four foot from the ground. It illustrates the water level in the flood of 1974. As a result of those floods, most of central Brisbane was rebuilt. Hence the central city is made up mostly of high rises rather than the trademark `Queenslander' architecture which the area is noted for. You have to travel out to the suburbs for that now.

Mark Bosnich (reckoned to be Australia's highest paid sports person) is massive news here, and along with the other exiled Socceroos, recently flew home in preparation for the centenary celebratory match between Australia and a FIFA World XI. After his recent brush with the English constabulary, his homecoming required a heavily attended 45 minute airport press conference.

After his agent had made clear from the outset that Bosnich would not be discussing his much publicised stag night or nuptials, the player, recently acquired by Manchester United, then fielded questions with some elan.

The one attempt to bring up the vexed `bucks party' came via a radio reporter who asked: "Did you enjoy your wedding Mark?"

"Yes," replied Bosnich.

"Why?" asked the reporter.

"I see you have a ring on your finger, did you get married?" retorted Bosnich.

"Mine was under different circumstances," responded the reporter, now shifting a little uneasily before Bosnich delivered the coup de grace which brought the house down.

"What? You got married to a girl, didn't you?"