A round-up of today's other rugby news
Connacht still struggling
CONNACHT’S INABILITY to trouble Ulster in last Friday’s Magners League encounter yet again brings the future of the so called “development” province into perspective.
Michael Bradley was quick to claim the new British and Irish A Cup will not stop Connacht developing Irish players but it was rightly pointed out by Donal Lenihan that Munster currently have four quality fullbacks (Felix Jones, Paul Warwick, Denis Hurley and Keith Earls). Leinster have three international tighthead props.
Scott Walker (domestic game manager) and Allen Clarke (high performance manager) may address the growing concern for the under-resourced western province at this week’s media briefing to deliver further details of the IRFU’s ongoing strategic development plan.
Haskell hit with ticket ban
WITH THE heat surrounding Bloodgate and Bath’s drug antics finally beginning to cool, English rugby has unearthed a new problem with an elite player.
James Haskell, the England and Stade Francais flanker, is named on a list of 41 players or organisations prohibited from receiving tickets for England Test matches in November.
Flannery returns to competitive duty
MUNSTER WERE given a boost at the weekend when international hooker Jerry Flannery returned to competitive action for his club, Shannon. Flannery was forced to miss the Lions tour because of a shoulder injury which required two operations.
But, as planned, he played the first 40 minutes in Shannon’s 33-28 friendly win against Galwegians at Limerick IT Grounds.
Flannery was “happy” to be back and hopes to win back his place in the Munster side for the opening Heineken Cup game away to Northampton on Saturday, October 10th
Ryan adds to Leinster's options
GONZAGA, LONG considered a second tier rugby school in Leinster, must be doing something right with their flankers.
On Saturday night Kevin McLaughlin continued his attempts to replace Rocky Elsom on Leinster’s blindside. while 19-year-old Dominic Ryan was only edged out of the match day squad by Shane Jennings.
Despite Gonzaga’s brief cup run in 2008, when they were beaten 27-10 by St Mary’s in the quarter-finals, Ryan’s ability to obliterate rucks, or maybe it was just the hairstyle, led to comparisons with Luke Fitzgerald’s best mate: “The stand-out Gonzaga forward though was flanker Dominic Ryan who did a passable impression of Schalk Burger in the manner he smashed into the tackle” stated The Irish Times report in February, 2008.
At 6ft 3 inches and 16 stone plus, it seems like a notoriously well- populated area in Irish rugby has another serious contender.
Staunton back in the frame
THERE ONCE was a ridiculously talented Irish outhalf named Jeremy Staunton. In 1999, aged 19, he sat on the Irish bench in Australia. His Munster career never worked out and he fast became an English Premiership journeyman with some largely forgettable stints at Northampton and Harlequins.
The Leicester Tigers signed Staunton in the summer, presumably as cover for Toby Flood and Sam Vesty but the Limerick native is currently in possession of the number 10 jersey, registering two penalties and two conversions in Saturday’s 20-all draw with Bath.
The siege gun boot is still evident as are the occasional flashes of quality to see him scramble over the gain-line. With Jonny Sexton breathing heavily down Ronan O’Gara’s neck and the way Ian Humphreys is performing for Ulster, all of a sudden there are options at outhalf.
Damon's pint-sized Pienaar doesn't augur well for Eastwood's Invictus
THE BAR is set high for team sports films due to Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday. With that in mind, we did some further Googling on Clint Eastwood’s new Nelson Mandela/Francois Pienaar film, Invictus, and while both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon have surely polished up their South African accents, could Damon not have bulked up for the role of Pienaar (see picture)?
The South African message boards are already predicting an excruciating Hollywood-style flick.
The release date is December 11th, with former Bath player Isaac Feau’nati playing a 19-year-old Jonah Lomu.
We wonder if a certain food poisoning incident will be included in the Eastwood picture
A repackaged All-Ireland League returns on Saturday with the new Division 1A made up of eight teams (all from Munster or Leinster) set to play each other on a home and away basis.
In a move clearly designed to keep the rest happy, whichever team tops Division 1B will join the top three in Div 1A in the play-offs.
