by JOHN O'SULLIVAN
Irish sides' opponents in fine form
In keeping an eye on Leinster and Munster’s upcoming Heineken Cup quarter-final opponents, it proved a good weekend for Clermont Auvergne and Northampton. The French side got a measure of revenge for last season’s Top 14 final when they beat Perpignan 22-17 at the Stade Marcel Michelin.
The Saints inflicted further misery on the Sale Sharks with a 15-7 victory at Edgeley Road. Northampton included three Irish players in their starting line-up, centre James Downey, flanker Neil Best and number eight Roger Wilson. The defeat sees Sale slip to the bottom of the Premiership.
Congratulations DLSP J4 team who went through the season unbeaten, the only team to do so in any Leinster Branch League. The aforementioned team drew their final match against Unidare and afterwards were presented with their pennant by branch representative Dorothy Collins who advised them of their achievement.
Entente cordiale
According to a survey of by Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain – they are one of the Ireland rugby team sponsors – excluding Ireland, Irish men aged 25-44 would most like to see France winning the Six Nations title.
The entente cordiale doesn’t though extend to soccer or more specifically French striker Thierry Henry who finished bottom of a pool asking those questioned to name their favourite international sporting heroes.
The findings with regard to the potential winner of this season’s Six Nations tournament saw France (32%) top the poll, followed by Scotland (29%), Wales (17%), Italy (16%) and England (6%).
When asked who would they least like to see win the Six Nations there was a pronounced shift in the pecking order with England (61%), France (26%), Italy (8%), Wales (4%) and Scotland (2%).
Less than one in five Irish men (18%) believe that Ireland can hold onto the coveted Six Nations title.
Penalty shout
One of the most bizarre penalty decisions came at the weekend when Scarlets secondrow Lou Reed was pinged for shouting at Ulster wing Andrew Trimble as the latter was trying to kick the ball clear. Reed came charging towards Trimble in an effort to block the ball and obviously hoped to frighten the Ulster player. On the intervention of the touch judge Reed was penalised for ungentlemanly conduct giving rise to one or the more unusual censures in the sport.
High praise for O'Driscoll
“In my time playing rugby and watching rugby he was certainly the best centre – by far. Jeremy Guscott was one of the best attacking players I ever played against but Brian O’Driscoll had the all-round package. He understands the game. The great players seem to have a lot of time to make decisions on the field and he has that. He reads it better than most guys.”
– Australian legend Tim Horan on O’Driscoll, who wins his 100th cap against Wales on Saturday.
Believe me, it’s going to happen. In 2011 I’m going to be down there on Queens Wharf partying like it is 1999.”
– Auckland Regional Council chairman and Prince fan Mike Lee insists the “party central” venue on Queens Wharf will be built ahead of the 2011 World Cup – despite concerns over funding.
Fourie wins try-of-the-year award
South Africa centre Jaque Fourie has succeeded Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll in winning The International Rugby Players Association Try of the Year for 2009. Fourie’s try for the Springboks against the British and Irish Lions in the second Test during the summer was selected from a shortlist of 15.
Nearly 8,000 votes were cast. Fourie’s try, scored in the 74th minute in Pretoria, helped to propel the Springboks to a series victory. He was presented with the award after the Stormers game against the Otago Highlanders in the Super 14 match at the weekend.
Shane Williams (2), Vincent Clerc, Mils Muliaina, Isaac Ross, Ma’a Nonu, Cedric Heymans, Berrick Barnes, Imanol Harinordoquy, Lee Byrne, Gonzalo Camacho, Alexander Yanyushkin and Ireland’s Rob Kearney and Jamie Heaslip were shortlisted.
