Further evidence that the schools game is very much the sacred cow of Irish rugby was provided by the Irish Schools' recent successful tour of Australia.

In all the missives and reports sent out by the IRFU during the tour, one minor detail went unreported: an Irish player was sent off in the opening game against New South Wales Country.

According to an IRFU spokesperson, the Irish team manager, Barry McGonigle, was one of those who sat on the disciplinary panel with his Australian counterpart and a one-week suspension was handed out to the player.

"The matter was dealt with immediately under the terms of the tour agreement. There was no cover-up."

Why the sanitised missives then?

Treston in ultimate comeback

There have been several high-profile examples of players returning from long-term injury this season, such as Denis Hickie, Alan Quinlan and Denis Leamy, but comeback of the year undoubtedly goes to the Blackrock College and Leinster prop Niall Treston.

Treston ultimately required six operations after a sustaining a badly broken leg a year ago, but played his first game in 12 months for Blackrock last weekend.

"I am inching my way back to full fitness and hope to be fit enough to resume with Leinster before long," he says.

In the Celtic League website Treston is erroneously listed as being "retired" but in fact remains a contracted Leinster player who retains serious ambitions of recapturing the form that made him a highly regarded Irish under-21 player. Rumours of his demise seem premature.

"I have not fallen off a cliff or retired," he confirmed.

Japan remain front runners

Japan remain the favourites to secure the hosting rights to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, although the IRB have confirmed that South Africa and New Zealand have also made expressions of interest - the deadline for which has now passed.

The game's governing body will next release a list of criteria by which the bids will be judged.

The New Zealand RFU, no doubt still aggrieved at the way Australia outsmarted them in even denying the Kiwis a co-hosting role at the last World Cup, haven't hosted the finals since the inaugural tournament, which they won, in 1987. Hence, there will be some in the IRB who will feel they are simply due a turn, and not only will they have learned from previous mistakes but next summer's Lions tour will go some way toward proving whether they have the infrastructure required for such a massive undertaking.

South Africa only hosted the World Cup back in 1995, and while it was generally regarded as a huge success, there must also be concerns that the country is biting off more than it can chew, what with the soccer World Cup in 2010 and its eagerness to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2009 Lions tour.

On the plus side, their bid is being headed by their ex-World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar, and they have plans to play a number of matches in Buenos Aires, which is liable to go down well with the IRB.

But if the Board really want to extend the game's global appeal, Japan represents an excellent opportunity to have the World Cup outside one of the game's traditional power bases for the first time.

A host of high-profile names have been lured to Japanese rugby in recent years. New Zealanders Ron Cribb, Tony Brown, Leon McDonald and Glen Osborne, former Wallabies Toutai Kefu, Glen Panaho and Brian Smith, and current Springbok Jaco van der Westhuyzen are all either playing or coaching in the recently formed Top League, which can only help Japan's cause.

Uneasy peace in South Africa

Following on from Robbie Fleck's recent withering attack on the SA Rugby president, Brian Van Rooyen, and the latter's demands to have the former Springbok arrested and brought back to South Africa to face charges, it has emerged that Van Rooyen has reportedly forgiven the current Bath centre.

Fleck had reputedly called Van Rooyen a "dickhead" who is "f**king up South African rugby", as quoted in New Zealand's leading rugby publication, Rugby News.

Whether the latest development will help to restore peace within South African rugby is another matter, as Fleck's comments are thought to have been prompted by contact he has had with current South African players who are prohibited from bringing the game into disrepute, and rumblings of discontent with SA Rugby and Van Rooyen's leadership style may not have gone away.

SA Rugby, which controls the professional end of South African rugby, has outlined its grand vision for the future of the game, encompassing its proposed merger with SARFU, the clarification of reporting roles within the organisation, and the elimination of conflict both at board level and with playing and coaching staff.

Also outlined in the detailed document is the extension of Springbok coach Jake White's current contract to 2007, dependent on his meeting strict performance indicators.

Clive puts Jonny in frame

Brian O'Driscoll is widely deemed a leading candidate to captain the Lions on their tour of New Zealand next summer, but Clive Woodward's recent recommendation that Jonny Wilkinson take over the captaincy of England in succession to Lawrence Dallaglio may well be a pointer as to the chances of the English outhalf also leading the tourists - that's if it's not Dallaglio the coach has in mind.

Crusaders re-sign big guns

Canterbury and the All Blacks received a welcome boost last week with the news that four of the Crusaders' most highly prized players have signed new contracts until 2007. The quartet are Chris Jack, Richie McCaw, Daniel Carter and Aaron Mauger.

With Mauger rested on Saturday as his wife was giving birth to their first child, his team-mates contributed handsomely to the 28-20 win that extinguished Auckland's chances of reaching the NPC play-off and with it their two-year hold on the trophy.

Sky's panellists Zinzan Brooke and Sean Fitzpatrick castigated Auckland's All Blacks' contingent of Carlos Spencer, Doug Howlett, Mils Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko and co, with Fitzpatrick also reckoning Andrew Mehrtens didn't do much to impress the watching Graham Henry, and both men suggested that Carter would be the Black's first-choice outhalf in their end-of-season November tour to the Northern Hemisphere.