Hayes set to equal record
JOHN HAYES will equal Malcolm O’Kelly’s all-time record of 91 caps for Ireland when he takes the field at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome – though O’Kelly would lead the way again were he to come on as a replacement. Records won’t concern him, but Sunday offers another opportunity to not alone pickpocket O’Kelly, but also Peter Stringer.
At present four Irish players are tied for the most appearances against Italy (10): Hayes, O’Kelly, Stringer and Girvan Dempsey. Only Hayes though will start the game.
Interestingly the player with the most appearances between Sunday’s protagonists in Rome is former Italian scrumhalf and now part of Nick Mallet’s backroom team, Alessandro Troncon, with 12.
Maori tribe given ownership of haka
THE eye-rolling, tongue-flicking haka war dance made famous by the All Blacks was officially handed back to a Maori tribe yesterday to stop it being ripped off by Hollywood directors and international advertising campaigns.
The New Zealand government assigned intellectual property rights in the traditional Maori haka, the Ka Mate, to Ngati Toa, a North Island tribal group. The new agreement is largely symbolic, but it is considered immensely significant by Maori leaders. “Ngati Toa’s primary objective is to prevent the misappropriation and culturally inappropriate use of the Ka Mate haka,” the settlement letter read.
The tribe has been battling for a decade to stop commercial exploitation of the haka, saying its use in film and television has been culturally insensitive and has undermined its traditional significance.
Timely reminder of Italy victories
FROM a statistical standpoint it’s time to acknowledge a couple of Italy’s performances in victory over Ireland, on two of the three occasions scoring 37 points, both in 1997. They won 37-29 at Lansdowne and their biggest victory over the Irish was a 37-22 triumph in Bologna.
Outhalf Diego Dominguez chipped in with 27 points, while Paulo Vaccari contributed a brace of tries in the Dublin match. The latter was something of a nemesis for Ireland scoring three tries in four matches.
Ireland have won 13 of the 16 Test matches between the teams.
2000:Ireland 60-13 (Dublin), 2001Ireland 41-22 (Rome), 2002Ireland 32-17 (Dublin), 2003Ireland 37-13 (Rome), 2004Ireland 19-3 (Dublin), 2005Ireland 28-17 (Rome), 2006Ireland 26-16 (Dublin), 2007Ireland 51-24 (Rome), 2008Ireland 16-11 (Dublin).
Byrnes makes Reds squad
AUSTRALIA-born secondrow Adam Byrnes, who spent two seasons with Leinster, has made the Queensland Reds squad for the Super 14 series.
Byrnes made a big impression in pre-season friendlies and this coupled with one or two injury problems may hand him his chance.
He joined Waratahs academy, but moved to Queensland to further his career this season.
Byrnes admitted: “That’s the reason I came home, to give Super 14 a crack. Europe was enjoyable, but I wanted to play back home in Australia.”
