Ulster enterprise In these financially straitened times for Irish rugby it's good to see some lateral thinking applied to generating revenue. The Ulster Branch organised a big screen to transmit live Saturday's game between Ireland at France at Lansdowne Road to anyone who cared to turn up to the bar at Ravenhill.
They advertised the venture stating, "Come along with a few friends and soak up the big match atmosphere as Ireland aim to keep their Grand Slam bid on track with a win over the French. Enjoy a sociable pint or two, debate the finer points of the game and spend a great afternoon in the company of fellow rugby supporters and fans. The bar will open from 1.00 p.m. and the match action will kick off at 2.00 p.m. Anyone over the age of 18 is welcome."
Computer on blink
It seems like the Zurich World rankings computer developed a bit of a glitch over the weekend. On Friday through the Planet Rugby website it released predictions for the weekend's Six Nations games. They were (world rankings in brackets): Ireland (6th) v France (4th) - France by 6 points; Scotland (7th) v Wales (9th) - Scotland by 11 points (pretty accurate) and England (1st) v Italy (12th) - England by 63 points.
Just as well sport doesn't always conform to paper permutations or it'd be a duller world.
Live issue in Italy
The Italian TV network RA13 has been taken to task for a decision to screen only highlights of Italy's Six Nations game against England at Twickenham yesterday in the early hours of this morning. RAI3 had originally scheduled the Twickenham clash at 00.45am, causing outrage among the rugby public and the national team itself, with rugby's rapid development there massively influenced by state TV's coverage.
Fortunately the broadcaster reacted to the widespread outrage and rejigged scheduling to show the game live. The Italian Federation (FIR) said in a statement:
"This decision has been received with obvious satisfaction by the national team. There is satisfaction for us and all of those in Italy who appreciate rugby. This event must be seen in Italy, and for our part we will try and perform to a high level." It's not just on the pitch that Italy must fight to earn a little respect.
Entries flood in
We were once again stunned by the volume of entries for the Leinster competition because we thought that if we made the question a little harder, the number of correct answers would be smaller. The response was superb, so congratulations to Seamus Hayes of Taghmon, Co Wexford, who correctly identified that Reggie Corrigan attended Pres, Bray, Malcolm O'Kelly went to school at Templeogue College and Emmet Byrne went to King's Hospital.
Seamus wins a family ticket (two adults, two children) to the Heineken European Cup quarter-final between Leinster and Biarritz at Lansdowne Road on April 12th.
This week's prize is another family ticket for the Leinster match.
The Leinster squad contains two players who started for Ireland in the U-19 World Cup final against France in Toulouse in 1998.
Name them.
Entries to josullivan_at_irish-times.ie.
Roysh good prize
The reader of this column is especially blessed for many reasons but we'll just stick to the fact that we are going to give away more prizes.
Later this week, O'Brien Press publish the new Ross O'Carroll-Kelly title by Paul Howard, The Orange Mocha-Chip Frappuccino Years, the third book about Ross, the quintessential yuppie from Dublin 4. A former star rugby player, Ross cannot live without his mobile phone, Golf GTI and pints of 'Ken. In his new book Ross quits college, is thrown out of home by his parents and starts working in house sales.
We are offering readers an opportunity to win copies of this brilliantly observed parody of a specific Dublin culture and also special Ross O'Carroll-Kelly T-shirts. All you have to do is answer the following question and e-mail entries to josullivan_at_irish-times.ie.
Which school did Ross O'Carroll-Kelly attend?
Miracle on video
The video of the Munster v Gloucester Heineken Cup game (January 18th, 2003) went on sale at the weekend, perfect for those late-night nostalgia sessions after the pub. The video, using RTÉ footage of the game, has been produced by Empire Media Productions, one of the leading independent rugby video production companies in Britain.
Titled The Miracle Match it will be available from the Munster Branch offices at Thomond Park and Musgrave Park and from stores nationwide including, HMV, Virgin Records, Roches Stores, Supervalu, Tesco, Golden Discs and various record stores such as Lee Records (Killarney/Tralee), Noel Sinnott's (Michael St, Waterford), The Music Shop (Ennis). The video is retailing at 16.95.
It can also be bought through the distribution company in RTÉ, by credit card, phone 01 208 3453, or e-mail your order with credit card details to celmerch_at_rte.ie We can't confirm if it will be available on the Gloucester website.
