Compiled by JOHNNY WATTERSON:
O'Driscoll is rugby royalty: Can new honour be far away?
GIVEN BOB Geldof and Terry Wogan bowed for Queen Elizabeth, what are the chances of Brian O’Driscoll being invited to the palace?
Scotland’s most-capped rugby player, Chris Paterson, said his New Year’s Honour was a reminder of all he has achieved in the sport. He received the MBE just over a week after announcing his retirement from international rugby. Also honoured by the queen was former Wales flanker Martyn Williams, who also received an MBE for services to rugby.
The 33-year-old Paterson has enjoyed a successful, record-filled career, captaining Scotland on 12 occasions and capped 109 times.
He won his 100th cap against Wales in Cardiff in 2010 but suffered a lacerated kidney in the match. O’Driscoll, with 117 Ireland caps, 151 Leinster caps, six Lions caps and three Barbarians caps, seems to have touched all of the bases. Maybe 2014 then?
Leinster's forgotten men: Looking for a break in 2012
YOU’VE GOT to feel sorry for Leinster duo Matt Berquist and Steven Sykes. Neither was playing yesterday against Connacht, which means they may have at least enjoyed the New Year in a way the other players couldn’t.
Sykes, a lock from South Africa, has played four times for Leinster but has yet to play a full game. He began well with 59 minutes against Aironi, then 64 minutes against Connacht, 65 minutes against Cardiff and after just nine minutes against Ulster he retired back to the injury suite.
Outhalf Berquist has been more unfortunate. The New Zealander played just twice for Joe Schmidt before sustaining a serious knee injury against Newport. In that match he lasted 18 minutes and in the only other game prior to that he played for 52 minutes. There has been a touch of the “Christian Cullens” about the two of them but surely better luck will accompany them through 2012?
Rankings war: Plenty to play for
IRELAND WILL play in five Six Nations matches from February on and then take in three Test matches against New Zealand in June. Apart from trying to make history in New Zealand or win another Grand Slam, Ireland’s world ranking is an important and ongoing core issue.
For the World Cup in 2015 the top teams in the rankings will be placed as the top seeds in four pools. The rankings for this will be based on where the teams are placed in December 2012. Teams ranked five to eight will be second seeds and allocated to each of the four pools by a draw. Ireland are currently ranked sixth.
The next eight games will determine if Ireland can reach the top four or fall outside the top eight (Scotland are at 10, Wales eight) in the world. That in turn will decide what sort of pool they will end up for the next World Cup. In that sense 2012 is a big year for Declan Kidney (above).
