Today's other stories in brief

Kaplan takes charge

It's been the practice in the past for visiting Southern Hemisphere referees to choose to referee a club match ahead of a Six Nations Championship fixture: blow away the cobwebs so to speak. So the presence of the South African whistler Jonathan Kaplan at Dr Hickey Park last Saturday for the AIB Division One clash between Greystones and Blackrock College was interesting given he's not down to referee any Six Nations game next weekend.

The referee scheduled to take charge of Ireland's opening game against Italy at Croke Park on Saturday is England's Chris White. But this column believes the latter may be injured and Kaplan could preside in Dublin, which is why he took charge at the Wicklow venue.

The South African was the picture of efficiency, unassuming in his civvies as he strode across to the team warm-ups, speaking to the opposing captains and front rows and letting them know what he expected of them.

As for the game itself, it proved an entertaining and nail-biting encounter, Greystones winning 23-22 thanks to a late try from their captain, Stuart Abbott, after Blackrock had been reduced to 14 men for the second time in the match.

Rock went 13-0 down before scoring four tries and led 22-13 at the interval.

But, for the third game in succession, they failed to score in the second half and that cost them the game.

Reddan hot property

Leinster have been linked with the Wasps scrumhalf Eoin Reddan, whose contract with the London club is up in the summer, and the former Munster scrumhalf has been good-naturedly courted by the Leinster players in the Ireland squad, who have wasted no time in pointing out the excellent training facilities at UCD, used in recent times by both the national as well as the Leinster squad.

Reddan has yet to make a decision but he is not the only Irish player considering playing his rugby in Dublin next season.

The former underage international and Ireland A wing Simon Keogh could be on his way home from the London club Harlequins. He is believed to be interested in returning, and Leinster - who are currently in the market for a top-quality international wing-cum-fullback - may sign him.

Not Best pleased

Rory Best returned to action, playing an hour for Ulster in their Heineken European Cup clash with Gloucester, last Sunday week and is tipped to start for Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday. Having recovered from an ankle injury the last thing he required was a run-in with the Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam.

Best is sporting a bruise under his right eye and as the accompanying picture shows it may have come from a clash with Azam. The Ulster and Ireland hooker was picked up on the referee's microphone suggesting Azam had got away with something. He accepted the referee had missed the incident but just wanted to draw his attention to it.

There was no citing but the picture suggests it might have been worth a look.

Russians feel heat

Russia got a bit of a mauling in the first game of their four-match tour of South Africa when they suffered a 29-54 hammering at the hands of the Leopards in Potchefstroom. The Russians will also play the Falcons, Lions and Pumas as preparation for their remaining matches in the European Nations Cup (the Six Nations B championship in effect), a tournament in which Russia top the Division One standings.

The visitors were outscored by eight tries to five, although the weather provided some mitigation.

The Russians struggled to cope with the intense heat of the northwest province, the match-time mercury soaring close to 29 degrees, a far cry from the temperatures at which Russia would normally play their rugby.

Volcano to erupt

The former England international Jason Robinson has backed another converted league winger, Lesley Vainikolo, to become a "huge global star" in union. He feels Vainikolo - known as the Volcano - can make a stunning impact.

"Lesley is fast, he has raw power and he's a try machine," said the World Cup winner, now retired. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if he becomes a huge global star in international rugby, and a massive fans' favourite with England."

Vainikolo is a former New Zealand rugby league international and if Ireland want to know more about his prowess they could ask Brian Carney, who has marked him a few times. Of course that would be easier if the Munster man were in the Ireland set-up but not having played a minute at the World Cup, he was left out of the squad for the Six Nations.