Babbling 'brook

A large element of the press release is some very negative spin from the IRFU in respect of their finances. Presumably this is done in the hope of damping down expectations from players, fans and employees. At the end of April 2013, the IRFU had net cash on hand of €5.5m compared to a net debt posit...

Mary's lost to Young Munster when Brent Pope was sent off.

Mary's beat Lansdowne in the League final the year that they finally won it.

Bottom team automatically is relegated with top team in 1B promoted. Second last team in 1A to play Second team in 1B in playoff.

Chops is only on a 3 month contract with Connacht. Would be a bit much to expect him to sign up with a Connacht club. Daragh Fanning on the other hand has a twelve month contract and joined Galwegians.

When is the last time anybody saw laces on a rugby ball?

takes me back to the good old days.............

I seem to remember that part of the deal for us voting in favor of New Zealand for the 2011 World Cup was that the All Blacks would play Ireland as the official opening matchof the new Lansdowne. Don't mistake the Stephen Jones conspiracy theories as truth. There was no deal done on the opening of ...

There are only seven home AIL fixtures plus whatever cup fixtures come up. With a bit of forward planning and some flexibility from the J3 sides, avoiding Friday nights before AIL matches shouldn't be a problem.

I got this email this morning and have just called their Scheduling Department. They say there is nothing that they can do as their last flight leaves at 5pm. They suggested that I take it up with their customer realations department - tele 0044 1332 854 321 (hours 9:30am to 6pm M-F) or email custom...

Well the first international will be Ireland vs the AB's. Was part of the payoff the IRFU gave the NZRFU during the RWC 2011 hosting rights decision. That was just part of the Stephen Jones conspiracy theory. There were some very heavy hints at the time that the IRFU's preference would be for a gam...

Donny B. wrote:
Since there's no such thing as a J5 league I don't know why some teams continually refer to themselves as J5s.

Because they are the sixth team in their respective Club?

Donny B. wrote:From what I heard from some Marys supporters, they don't even want him but are forced to play him by the branch.

Mary's won Gomez in a raffle. From what I hear he has played well for them and is a good player at AIL level but what Leinster were doing signing him has to be questioned.

Chris White was fine. He allowed a fair contest in most areas and generally kept things under control. Made a few mistakes but no referee is ever going to have an error free day. The front row was a bit of a lottery but with Hayes and Le Roux, it would be expecting a lot for the referee to sort out ...

In case anybody plans to go to the game, kick off is 3:30.

Hopefully there will be a big crowd with a couple of bands booked for the after game celebrations.

Even "Senior" clubs have problems getting props. This year Mary's couldn't field a second Under 20 team because they didn't have enough front row players even though they had plenty of players overall. The issue is whether to give people a good competitive run out with uncontested scrums o...

The lineout as a unit didn't function to the required standard. There was a lack of movement and when we got into the red zone there was no variation making it too easy for the French. I don't know if you can put this down to individual players but the coaching/game plan has to be questioned. Defens...

The 2pm kick offs were to allow for extra time if it was required. Everything I saw noted the 2 o'clock kickoffs!

Leddin Cup Final changed from RDS to Donnybrook as RDS refused to hold it due to concerns about the pitch surface. Donnybrook is a building site and has been one for a few months. Winter in Ireland tends to be wet and windy yet it comes as a complete surprise to the Leinster Branch officials that wi...

Watching the game in the Stadium it was obvious that every time there was a scrum close to the touch line on a France put in, Trimble moved infield to cover O'Gara. The French video analyst obviously picked it up and at half time the tactics were changed with stunning results. How come we never mana...

The IRFU operate an insurance scheme through Aon that covers all underage rugby while the Clubs pay for their adult teams. The Clubs of Ireland scheme also tracks playing numbers. 2005/06 IRFU Annual Report. Sorry couldn't work out how to get table working! Ulster Munster Leinster Connacht Total Adu...

Junior Rugby is struggling in many of the so called "senior" clubs. The main reason for this is simple demographics. Those in their 20s and 30s cannot afford family homes towards the centre of Dublin and want to play their rugby closer to where they live. That said, there are senior clubs ...