News from the world of Rugby
Adding insult to injury
When is a ban not a ban? Probably when it's handed out in rugby circles.
Cardiff's Rob Appleyard was guilty of punching and knocking out Leinster flanker Aidan McCullen in a Celtic League match recently. McCullen suffered concussion from the blow and was ruled out for the mandatory three weeks.
Appleyard, who received a straight red card for the assault, didn't contest the issue or offer mitigating circumstances. His ban? Twenty one days. So effectively Appleyard and McCullen are serving the same sentence, although only one of them is guilty.
It's not only the Celtic League disciplinary panel that should question their procedures, as Auckland outhalf Carlos Spencer would probably verify. He was the victim of a tackle deemed "careless" in a recent Super 12 match. The culprit, Deacon Manu, got two weeks - he actually misses only one match - while Spencer will be out for three games with a fractured jaw.
Sun, sea and Sevens
Given the recent inclement weather we thought it would be nice to look forward to sunnier climes and those first days of summer. More specifically, it's a piece about the Heineken Kinsale Sevens.
The tournament will take place over the weekend of May 1st and 2nd, although there is a fun 10-a-side competition on Friday, April 30th.
This is the 16th year of the tournament and it's the biggest event of its kind in Europe. The organisers have already received entries from Fiji (Sevens king Waisale Serevi will be in action), New Zealand, Scotland, France, Belgium, England, Wales, Holland, Moldova and of course Ireland.
The event patrons, Lions, Ireland and Munster legend Mick Galwey and Wales rugby union and league icon Jonathan Davies, will attend, as will guests like Christian Cullen and Munster coach Alan Gaffney.
There are four competitions, senior (AIB League standard), junior, under-20 and women, with 18,000 up for grabs by way of prizes.
For good measure, several bands will provide live music in the grand marquee over the weekend.
There are still places available; contact Philip Stokes (pstokes@kinsalesevens.com). For corporate hospitality places contact Conor Cullen (nuance2000@eircom.net). For other information go to www.kinsalesevens.com.
Great win, terrible jokes
In honour of Ireland's Six Nations victory over England nine days ago at Twickenham and to stop people sending this column even more jokes we have decided to compile a brief list.
Here is just a selection.
SHOP WINDOW: Chariot for sale. Ring 19-13 and ask for Clive.
NEW ANTHEM: A Clive, a Clive-o.
FOR SALE: One chariot (low-swinging, sweet type), in urgent need of repair (wheels have come off again). One careless owner, details from Clive, Tel: Twickenham 19-13.
FOR SALE: 100,000 Grand Slam T-shirts, ties and scarves - unused. Choice of 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2003/2004 ) Contact: RFU, Twickenham.
IN MEMORIAM Slam, G: passed away, March 6th, 2004. Sorely missed by Clive and the boys.
No more jokes, please, and this column would like to point out by the way that the English people it bumped into took their defeat with grace and magnanimity.
Horan racks up caps
Ireland has a long tradition of exporting talent around the globe and the world of rugby is no exception. Enda Horan plays for Luxembourg and as far as we know is not the only Irishman on the team. He has 18 caps for his adopted country, having gone there after completing college in Dublin, where he played rugby both at college and with Salesians.
Horan became eligible to tog out for Luxembourg after being resident in the country for three years, thereby satisfying the IRB qualification process.
He played in four of Luxembourg's qualifiers for the 2003 World Cup in Australia. Luxembourg were pitted against Lativa, Norway, Israel, Sweden and Austria.
It simply reinforces that there is life outside the Six Nations Championship and the Bledisloe Cup. Horan has also played against Bosnia in Sarajevo, which he describes as a different experience, to say the least.
Smurfit XV Duke it out
A team representing the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business are hoping to win the MBA Rugby World Cup, held in Duke University, North Carolina, for the fourth successive year. The Smurfit team are the only Irish representatives in this annual competition and have held the title since 2000.
The International Business Schools World Cup is the largest business schools event worldwide, attracting 28 teams, including those from Harvard, Yale, London Business School, Bath, Sydney and Cornell.
The Smurfit team are currently looking to recruit sponsors, particularly with a view to capitalising on the unique exposure to the next generation of international business leaders.
Krige tackles SARFU
Former Springbok skipper Corne Krige will appear before a SARFU disciplinary hearing to face a possible code-of-conduct breach for criticising SARFU and SA Rugby in his weekly newspaper column. Krige wrote that a number of the 2003 Springboks are considering taking legal action after their salaries were printed in a South African newspaper.
Krige says the contracts of those whose salaries were leaked contained confidentiality clauses.
