Tourists to turn up heat

There are at least some people wandering around the west of Ireland who are grateful for what the locals are deeming this bummer of a summer. Back in Morocco, it is too hot to train twice daily. Not so now for their rugby tourists, who arrived in Galway at 2 a.m. on Wednesday for their first of four games against the Irish provinces, against Connacht this evening at Corinthian Park (6.30).

"The weather is not so hot," agreed their affable manager Said Zniber yesterday. "There is a lot of wind. But this means we can train two times a day, which is good. It is too hot to do this at home." Silver linings, and all that.

Admittedly, only one session was feasible on Wednesday after the 33-man squad's 20-hour journey which began at 6 a.m. in Casablanca on Tuesday.

All told, the Moroccans are thrilled to be here, this being their first tour to Ireland or Britain. They are preparing for their World Cup qualifying campaign against Zimbabwe, Namibia and the Ivory Coast from September 12th to 19th in Casablanca.

Last year, Morocco beat Belgium, Denmark and Russia, the Russians in front of a record crowd of 12,000 in Casablanca. They also beat Languedoc 16-14, drew with Portugal 24-24 and lost to the French military 29-26.

Eleven of their squad are based in France. Two of these are their leading lights, the 42-times capped La Teste scrum-half Hamid Amina and the promising 21-year-old Aurellac flanker Faycal Bouka noucha. However, injuries to the Toulon loose-head Redouane El Hafid and the Stade Francais lock Mourad Mouala last Sunday deprived them of two of their frontline players at the last minute. Customary captain Aziz Mesrour is also injured.

Part of the attraction of playing Irish teams is their belief that the styles will be somewhat akin to the Namibians and the Zimbabweans.