A sensible move by the IRFU not to send a side to the current World Sevens Series which took place last week in Dubai. There were some prickly comments from Scotland, the only team from the home nations to send a side, saying that Ireland, England and Wales should have been represented out in the desert.

The IRFU's stance, however, hinged on the current start up of the AIB All Ireland league and the ongoing European Cup, both of which would have been disrupted had players been selected to travel. Not to be outdone, however, the Union say that they are looking at other similar type events later in the year when disruption to important domestic events is less likely. In this respect they have quite a colourful choice of venues as the competition moves Formula 1 style to Stennenbosch (SA), Punte del Este (Urg) Mar del Pata (Arg), Wellington (NZ), Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Tokyo and finally Paris on March 20th-22th.